You're never going to be bulletproof, but if you're feeding yourself good food and making sure you're eating the right supplements, I think you reduce the chances of getting any niggling injuries.
Chris Smalling
Ultimately it's the simple things that make a difference.
You can have so many different demands; trying to please the fans, pleasing the manager, please yourself.
When you've got the experienced players around you who've won countless trophies and titles between them, you want to rise to them.
Obviously with a knee injury there are certain protocols that need to happen.
I have a collage of pictures of my dad holding my brother and me. I look at that before every game just to remind me about having no fear or regrets and to go out and enjoy the moment, because I know how precious life is.
I like Thai food, Jamaican stews with yam, pumpkin and sweet potato.
I've had many setbacks.
You know that without the whole team working together, it's a very hard job for the defenders, so everyone plays a part.
You work every day technically, physically but so much is in the mind. Look at when players go on big scoring runs, then stop scoring. It's not that they are any different physically, it's very often mental, confidence, concentration.
It's hard to sit back and just go through your whole career, because everything's always moving so fast. But the odd milestone is always a nice moment, and when you look at the previous players to have hit those kind of milestones, it's nice to be in that company.
A lot of successful teams are based on having two or three solid partners that rarely change.
As I've got older I've become a lot more conscious of my diet and making sure I was getting all the right things.
Just to be able to be at a club like Manchester United for so long when I first joined, you never know how it's going to turn out.
I always hoped I'd get a chance to prove myself at the top level because I believed I could do it, but making your way up the football ladder is very tough.
Even before I went vegan, in terms of cutting out red meat, my tendinitis and recovery after games was vastly improved.
When you come to Manchester United, in every transfer window - whether the team is doing well or badly - there are always players linked with the club because this club is always linked with the best players.
I know from playing against Mata that he's a great player.
Football was always a dream, but a distant dream until when I was about to go to university. I'd had a couple of trials, but it wasn't a realistic dream, it was a kid's dream.
Nobody wants to train every day so the more games the better.
I just have to make sure that, whenever an opportunity arises, I keep taking them.
Transfer speculation during the off-season does spur you on.
It's nice when you can have that battle on the pitch and then there's respect after the game because, ultimately, you are just trying to do your best.
My mum and brother are so proud of me.
The FA Cup is notoriously unpredictable.
I quite like being aggressive and horrible which gives you more confidence to dictate over strikers and to make them feel they have had a frustrating game when they've walked off the pitch, feeling very down.
Playing in the Manchester derby definitely helped me.
It makes me very proud that a club like Manchester United have wanted me to be here as long as I have been.
Everyone has their own traits but if you are being compared to players like Rio Ferdinand then you must be doing something well and hopefully I can keep that going.
Ultimately it's your club form that decides whether you play at a World Cup because there aren't many England games throughout the season.
You do see very few English players going abroad and those that do are largely good players otherwise they wouldn't have gone, but I feel a lot of their downfall is in the language. On the pitch you can learn the different basics of 'left,' 'right' and 'behind you' but off the pitch you want to have that influence around the team.
I think a lot of managers say that it starts from the front and us as defenders know it helps our job when the front two strikers put that pressure on. If they can do that it makes our job a lot easier.
I knew when I did get a consistent run that I could go from height to height.
I think the more games the better and I am always one that would rather play than train.
Everyone becomes a lot more focused when you come towards the critical stages of the season.
When we're winning or losing, when we're doing warm-ups or even when I'm walking down the street, there are United fans talking to me. I think that's something we all love.
You can't have two or three games where you let your level drop.
I think racism is unacceptable and should not be stood for. It is not an issue just in Italy, it is around the world.
I think Serie A has always been a goal of mine to play in one day, because as a defender if you get the chance to experience Serie A you want to do it.
I think I've played a lot in the Premier League and now I can bring my qualities that I've learned to Italy, and that is something I am looking forward to.
To have a chance at a big club, if it goes well and the club is happy and I am happy, then I can definitely see a longer-term future in Italy.
I love a challenge and when a new centre-back comes in it makes you raise your game. You have to show more, you have to be more consistent.
I am used to playing when I am fit.
I was playing regularly for United up to when I left.
I guess football is a game of opinions.
At home we try to plan what we cook in the week.
You learn that you can't take what's happened in the previous years for granted.
I want the supporters to know that we're always striving to improve.
I think every manager has that, the so-called hairdryer treatment when things need a little turnaround.
A manager has to have all different sides covered.
