Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Whenever you're playing on the pitch, you have to step up to the plate and perform.

You want to play in finals, and they don't come much bigger than the Champions League final.

When I've watched teams that play with five at the back and wing-backs, I've looked at their starting positions and positions out of possession because that comes a little bit more unnaturally to me.

A lot of people don't see, when we lose and go through tough times, how upset and disappointed we are.

Everyone in the Premier League feels pressure to get results. It is part of being a footballer.

Playing in a team like Arsenal helps massively having all of these players around you giving you advice. When they are playing well, you feel comfortable, and it helps you to play well, too.

It's important for any player to be versatile enough to be able to play in different positions.

Throughout your career, you will always be asked to play slightly different positions here and there, and obviously, the needs of the team come first, so if you need to fill in at a different position, you'll be expected to do that.

In the long run, it's probably better to tie yourself down to one position and really become established in one area to be as good as you can in that position.

Arsenal have a great manager in Arsene Wenger, top quality players and an attractive style of play. These were all important factors in me choosing to sign for Arsenal.

I'm so excited to be joining Arsenal. It's a fantastic club, and I'm really looking forward to the opportunity of playing football at the highest level.

To do well at a new competition, you need a lot of good performances.

It takes time to settle in and learn a new formation and style of play.

To beat City twice is no easy feat.

There is always room for improvement, and I have always grown up knowing however well I have done, there is always something I could have done better.

You have good form, bad form, get criticised, get bigged up. You go through spells of trying to find out how much to listen to, what not to pay too much attention to.

I've grown up playing in central midfield more, and I think my natural game is about coming inside from wide.

Ever since I've been at Arsenal, we've had numerous quality players, and the whole squad had been very strong. It just seemed that in the big games we came up short sometimes, and you wonder why.

When I play out wide and maybe score a goal, that's my favourite position.

My dad had a spell when he came out of coaching doing some work with underprivileged children on quite a rough council estate in Southampton to help the kids and take them out to places. I used to go along with him. I used to play football with them, mess about with them. I was only 13 or 14 and became good friends with them.

Clubs will lose great players, and great players will come in.

When I played in goal at Stamford Bridge, I realised that's not my best position.

I've played so many games of football now, and even though it is at a higher level, at the end of the day, football is football. You are just playing with better players.

All players go through injuries in their career, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Versatility is an extra string to a player's bow.

I remember watching David Beckham scoring that free-kick at Old Trafford to take England to a World Cup. Things like that stick with you. I was at Southsea, waiting to board a hovercraft for the Isle of Wight. We ended up missing it because we were more interested in watching the big screen.

At a massive club like Liverpool, people will come and go. It is our job to keep the wheels moving and momentum going.

I am the type of person who relishes the chance to stand up and perform under pressure; I have had to do that my whole career.

All managers make decisions, and sometimes they are right, and sometimes people say they are wrong.

I am really close to my mum. She always made me do my school and make sure I got all my grades. She is a physiotherapist, which is a massive help to me, so in terms of nutrition, she was the one who made sure I was eating all the right food, and I can only thank her that she kept me fit and healthy.

When my dad was still playing, he was away for five years on and off, so it just used to be me and my mum at home until my little brother came along when I was five.

I'd be lying if I said there weren't times when I hadn't lost a little bit of confidence. But the people around me, close to me, were the ones to tell me I'd been playing slightly differently, not as confidently as I had been.

Obviously, there's times in your career when people doubt you.

I have been playing for England since I was 18, and while I wouldn't say I took it all for granted, it just seemed to be a part of my season - to play for Arsenal and to play for England.

I can take so much from someone like Mo Salah.

I am old enough and wise enough and I have been around long enough to know that things will be said - and not nice things a lot of the time. And when you are doing well, nice things will be said.

When you have watched someone long enough, you know what they can do.

When I play in central midfield, that's my favourite position.

I've had loads of kicks over the years, and I'm not really too fussed about them. I get kicked, and I don't like to roll around or anything. I like to get back up pretty quickly, even if it hurt.

Arsenal are all about nice, intricate passing movements around the box, so if I shoot too much from outside the box without scoring, the boss will have a go at me!

Sometimes when I play on the wing, I have to remind myself to stay out wide because I tend to naturally drift in towards the ball. I try to get on the ball and make something happen.

If I hadn't wanted to become a footballer, Dad wouldn't have made me do it.

My dad speaks a lot of sense and keeps me grounded. He'll watch me play and, if I've done well, he'll have a quiet word with me and say, 'Well done.' If I've had a not-so-good game, he'll let me know about it.

I'll handle living on my own. You've got to learn somehow. I'll take it all in my stride like I do everything else.

My senior school didn't play football. It was a rugby and cricket school, and as I was on a sports scholarship, I was forced to play rugby.

I'm quite confident to take people on - if there's a one against one, I'll definitely take it on if I feel I can get a cross in or set someone up.

If there's a shot on, I like to take the opportunity as well, and I like passing the ball - which is one of the reasons I came to Arsenal. But I'm a player that likes to come up with an end product - whether that's a goal, an assist, or helping the team to get good results.

If I've had a bad game, I know I've had a bad game, and I don't mind hearing it.

All that I can say is that, from my point of view, our manager Arsene Wenger is an unbelievable man off the pitch and as a manager.

I think friendship in football is a massive part of the team.