It's about working hard, resting when you need to, leading a healthy life, and having a support structure around you. These factors help you improve.
Adama Traore
I believe if you keep pushing and keep believing, you get your rewards.
One moment that changed my mentality was the first time I went to Mali when I was six. Soon after that trip, Barcelona signed me, but when I was there I saw children like me, six years old, who didn't have shoes, while I had the opportunity to fulfil my dream. It shocked me. I was six and I didn't understand.
It was difficult at Villa because they'd struggled for two years and I'd come mainly from Barcelona B in the second division in Spain. I needed time to adapt but Tim Sherwood and Remi Garde had to win games; they didn't have time to think about little things about my game. It was a bad moment, it was such a hard, sad experience.
Whether it's 90 minutes, or a half, 10 minutes or whatever, I want to show what I can do.
If I am the same Adama as yesterday, then it is one day I have lost.
If I can adapt to different tactics I think I will be a better player.
I usually sprint for 20 to 30 metres - occasionally 50 to 60 metres maximum. But no footballer ever sprints a complete 100 metres during a game.
My training? I don't do weights. It's hard to believe, but I don't do weights.
Wherever you come from, even if it's a rough neighbourhood, there are always good people who know what they want to do.
My dream was to be a football player.
Yeah definitely, I have to be brave. There are some bad tackles that we don't like. But it's not my job to look at that, it's the referee's job, he has to see what is going on. All I try to do is keep going.
I have trained with expert sprinters many times and they all agree running with the ball and running without the ball requires two completely different techniques.
Offers from Madrid or Barca will come when they come, but my mentality is to continue growing as a player.
My greatest strength is my speed and power. This is what stands out more but I'll get better, I have many attributes.
I think the time I spent at Aston Villa was difficult. It was a difficult time and a difficult moment for the team.
I don't have to be stressed about it. When people watch videos of teams, they might see a certain player and think, 'If we kick him a little bit, maybe he'll get angry, maybe he'll get a booking.
That has to help if you know the mentality of your opponent, and how he wants to play.
When there is a difficult moment, you need to stay strong because it's difficult when you don't play.
I joined Aston Villa to improve myself in the Premier League. It started well but then I got injured and Villa ended up having five managers that season.
It is nice to be known on 'Fifa 19' as the fastest player in the world.
I know my game is about trying to get past players and I know that if a bad tackle is coming my way, I have to jump or push my body out in front, but this is football. If they try to foul and target me, then I'm doing something good.
Talent is not enough - it's about using it in the right way.
When I came to Aston Villa, they had struggled for two years before then.
The most important thing for me was talking to players like Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Javier Mascherano - they would tell me about the life away from football. All I wanted to do was play football but they explained how important everything is away, how you prepare and live your life.
All Spanish players want to play for the national team.
About Mali, they came to my house. We spoke and after that, the guy posed for a picture giving me a Mali shirt. With Spain I didn't go because I was injured. When the time comes, you will see which team I decide.
When I left Middlesbrough I went back there and bought a lot of shirts from the club shop and signed them for the fans. They were very good to me and I wanted to say thank you.
I was born in Spain, I know the culture there, and lived most of my life there, but I have Malian origins too. For me it's a beautiful thing that I can have both. I can be in both countries, speak the language, blend in in two cultures.
Nuno works with each player individually. He has worked with me tactically, on where I have to move and when I have to move.
No matter the competition, Premier League or Europa League or cup, I want to win. This is the truth.
I am working every day.
I know the way I play is with speed and ability.
Darren Campbell, the British Olympic sprinter, was my sprint coach at Middlesbrough - yet the best advice he gave me was to slow down. That might sound strange but he said: 'You have too much speed - you don't always need to run at 100 per cent.' I was used to running flat out every time, but he told me, 'You know how quick you are, slow down.'
Everyone knows what a good player Ruben Neves is and I have no doubt he could play for massive clubs like Manchester United, Barcelona or Real Madrid one day.
Barcelona is the best education possible. Training with Messi is something I will never forget - he was always the last off the pitch and working incredibly hard in the gym. If he is the best player in the world and works so hard, who are we? You can have all the crazy talent but you need to work.
People are thinking I am running so fast on the pitch, but I think it's slow.
I've always been quick, ever since I was little.
I work with a nutritionist, I have my personal trainer and another person who is like my physio.
It's genetic. I exercise, but I gain mass very quickly.
The happiest I can be is when we win games.
I did learn a lot of things in different positions, wing-back, winger and striker as well so I am happy to go and learn different positions which I like and I trust the process of Nuno Espirito Santo.
Few people will say maybe I had a tough time with different teams like Aston Villa and Middlesbrough but in each situation, I tried to take the good things.
Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, they showed me what is English football. It's tough, it's difficult and they showed me how life is like in professional football.
We wanted to be footballers, not part of some gang.
There were gangs in the school I went to. They fought each other constantly.
We know about Portuguese football, we know the Portuguese culture.
We will accept any help we can as we attempt to keep moving forward to become a better team.
If I do not have the option of Barca and I have to go to Real Madrid, I do not close any doors.
I have been playing in different positions and I keep growing.
