I didn't know exactly what to expect when I first came to Seattle but I have to say that how the city and the fans have embraced me has gone beyond my wildest dreams and for that I am forever grateful.
Freddie Ljungberg
I'm really excited by this opportunity to continue helping develop and work with some of the great young players we have coming through in the first-team environment and to work alongside Unai and his coaching team to help Arsenal win trophies.
If there's a back door somewhere, I take it. I try to get about without being noticed.
When friends come over from Europe, they think it's going to be rainy in Seattle but it's beautiful. It's a hidden pearl. And people here respect your private life.
I like it in Seattle.
When I went to Seattle, it was quite a quiet town and we made it the biggest soccer following in America. We didn't have the paparazzi, though, and I needed that at the time.
I won almost everything there is to win and I look back with great memories.
What I say in the dressing room always stays there.
I have a house with its own dock and I can take my boat out when I want.
I loved my time in Japan, and I am grateful to have had the chance to live in Japan and embrace the Japanese culture.
The Swedish team plays very differently from Arsenal. There is more freedom with Arsenal and they play a passing game.
I do my job - I don't try to seek the spotlight; that's not my way.
I am not particularly disciplined, but I am stubborn like few.
As a child I could lie in bed and do absolutely nothing for hours but once I decided to do something, big or small, I could not stop until it had been completed.
I played against Ashley Cole all the time in training. For me, he is the best left-back in the world. He was the hardest opponent and I had him every day in training.
Real Madrid's Bernabeu was an amazing stadium to play in. It was just on top of you, and such a big stadium.
It takes time to know what makes an individual player tick.
I made a conscious decision when I was about 30 that I wanted to do something different with my life. I felt a little bit lost and didn't trust people, so I decided to move to America.
I like entertaining football but, at the same time, you can't concede goals. That's a tricky balance to find.
For me, happy footballers play the best football.
Where I am from in Sweden was on the beach, so I love the sound of the water hitting the dock.
I was an underwear model for Calvin Klein for a few years. It is not something I wanted to do at first. I never regretted it, but I am a shy person, and to stand there buck naked in front of a camera was scary.
I am not a big gym fan.
I played team handball when I was a child. It is a very brutal sport.
Some people thought I was crazy when I quit Europe to go to the U.S., but for me the quality of life and the place I live is important.
I think it's important to learn about the culture of the place where you live.
Where I came from had a lot of friends. A big social circle.
I played as a 10 and, in Sweden, they let me take as many touches as I could. All of a sudden, I come to Arsenal and I have to play one and two touches - it was a little bit alien to me.
Unai is very calm, composed and extremely detailed in what he expects. From Monday through to Friday, every single training session is very carefully planned.
When I went to Arsenal, people in Sweden said my game was more suited for Spain or Italy.
I felt, and it may sound a bit stupid, that I want to try things that are hard.
I felt Arsenal had let a lot of players go. When Thierry left I felt it was time for me to do something different and challenging.
West Ham have a great academy.
The important thing for me is we want to keep the ball, we want to have the ball because we are Arsenal football club.
What I try to focus on is going forward.
I think Unai did a great job and was a great leader, and a fantastic coach.
Everyone that works knows that work is hard sometimes.
I go from day to day and game to game.
When I came from Europe, I was told that Americans don't care about soccer and this and that. But the way people cared was beyond my wildest expectations. You can't manufacture that.
That's what it's all about. To play better. To win. There's nothing else to it.
My roles for Arsenal and Sweden are very different.
It is up to the coaches to tell me how to play.
Sweden usually don't play good against the poor teams. We like being the underdogs.
If you want to play at Arsenal you need to be top, top, you need precision.
You can see players do things in training that aren't a problem but they can't in a game situation. You have to work on it, relax and be brave.
I try to see what the players can do and not what they can't do.
Sometimes you have to just plug away, plug away in your game of football and maybe when your opponent gets a bit more tired you get that little extra metre and that's when you score the goals.
I am not that shy.
I break out in a rash if I go to the gym; all I did was shave my chest.
I've always been interested in clothes and shopping, and I have a few friends who work in fashion.
