Michael: Yeah, everything then was positive. Rio was in the first team, Frank Lampard was in the first team, Joe Cole was in the first team and then me. So there were four lads all going through it, they were a year or two ahead but and it just seemed like that was how it was. Everything was great, I was in the first team and everyone was positive, saying, ‘Oh these young lads have great potential, great young players, get in the England squad and play’. Everything was just great and you just sort of roll with it really. I think everything came so smoothly at that time. I didn’t think it would last forever but just thought this is how it is.


Graeme: Then you had that spell where it went down after that. Where you had injuries and how that affected the relegation that season.


Michael: The injuries were a big thing, dealing with the injuries because for about…well it seemed like 2 years, 18 months or so I had hernia problems so I was playing poorly. I wasn’t in the England squad and then we got relegated.


I was twenty-one then. Not in the England squad, wasn’t playing well, we got relegated at West Ham and I was struggling with being injured. So from everything going so smoothly, all of a sudden…but I never really doubted that, even when we were playing in the Championship for West Ham, I saw myself as playing back at the top level.


Not in an arrogant way. Not that I


really thought about it consciously. There was just something always in me saying I had to get back to the top. But it wasn’t a pleasant time because everything was just so negative but at the same time it makes you grow, you learn a lot.


30


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