Casemiro has to cover the gaps left by everyone. That's balance for me; to make sure the game doesn't go mad.
When I was in Germany I never played like this, so defensive - almost a left-back, but that is good for me because defensive work was something I missed in Germany.
I was an offensive defenseman. I was up the ice as much as I was back.
I think the first time I had to play at left-back was at Manchester United in the Europa League.
I've done quite a bit in England. I've won the majority of trophies and awards that there is to win, apart from top goalscorer... which is hard as a defender.
Maybe modern tactics mean that making the switch from defence to midfield is easier. Many years ago, full backs were more limited - you were just supposed to defend, and it didn't matter if you could get forward too.
I know I can block shots and I've got to do it. That's part of my job as a big.
Sometimes you can say it is boring being in goal, but what is important is I am in communication with the defence.
Obviously, I try to play the game in the way that I can help the team. I know I play a little bit more defensively now, more in the role as a team player, but I think I'm doing really well in that.
At school, I was always a central midfielder from a young age. Then, when I joined Villa at 16, the pre-season didn't go too well, so they looked at me as a centre-half.
To play as an anchor man you have to be extremely disciplined and a lot of the time you're attracted to the ball but can't go there because if you don't get there or it breaks down there is a hole.
I never said I had to be the highest-paid defensive player. That really wasn't the most important thing.
We sometimes undervalue the importance of goalkeepers.
When we're playing a good scoring center, we tell our team that it is not our defensive man's job to stop the center. It's the responsibility of our perimeter people to stop the ball from going inside.
You have to understand, it takes a lot of qualities to play linebacker - quickness, tackling ability and sheer force - so you just can't take someone from another position and think they could all of a sudden handle that role.
Centre-back takes more out of you mentally than physically.
I prefer to play inside linebacker.
I've always liked taking the ball out of defence and I will carry on doing that but at the end of the day I'm a defender, and that's what I want to be known as - a defender, getting in the blocks and the headers that people don't recognise I do, the dirty stuff that every defender should do and should be good at.
Players like me, we did something of a thankless job. You don't show a hard tackle or stripping someone of possession in slow motion on the big screen. But if you add it all up, I was always the one that the coaches wrote down automatically on the lineup card.
I prefer to play in midfield, whether that is attacking midfield or defensive midfield.
Defensive midfielder is my position and I have to be focused on that role.
You can't be happy, taking away something I've worked on all my life to do and help my teammates and help my defense, ... It's just part of me, playing the puck. So, definitely, you can't be happy.
When I arrived at Benfica I'd been playing like a No. 10 in the team, but the first thing the coach did was tell me: 'You are going to be a defensive midfielder here.'
The position I am playing at right wing-back, I know I can score goals there.
As an individual I have personal ambitions - scoring goals, giving as many assists as I can but also working hard for the team and doing a job in defence as well. My 'ambitions are for the team and what we can achieve as a whole.
