Question: You’re known for your phenomenal speed, did you ever get close to doing athletics?
Answer: I was very close to doing athletics but it just came to a point in the career in Sheffield that they said pick or choose between football and running. I did run for Sheffield – I did the 100m and the 800m, which are two completely different races. I was quite good at both. My mum, bless her, used to travel with me on a Saturday for football and then a Sunday with athletics, so thank you Mum. I think it’s paid off within football. I think football was the right decision for me to do.
Additional question from Michael Brown: When you see Thierry Henry in his peak, do you think you would have beat him?
Answer: I don’t know, Jack Grealish said this in the Champions League and it’s one of those things. Both in our primes, I think I’m quicker than him. I’d say [my prime] was four years ago. I think four years ago I was probably my quickest. At 29, I felt the quickest that I have been.
Thierry Henry was a great player, that’s clear for everyone to see with the goals he scored, but I do think that defenders [then] were probably not at the standard that defenders are now with the athleticism. That’s my personal opinion, that’s no disrespect to any of the defenders for the past age, but I do think that the game has developed a little bit.
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