00:00sort of your upbringing and you're a West London boy you've been at Fulham most of your life um
00:06what maybe is that continuity given to you I guess maybe particularly in an age where it's
00:12not uncommon for young players to move around yeah I think it's been a massive massive part
00:18of my development I think being at a club like Fulham which is such a top top football club and
00:23is a club which really feels like a family to me I've definitely said it before but it feels like
00:28a second home to me um and being in that type of environment that continuity is so important for
00:35my for my development um I had a lot of coaches and some of my coaches even stayed in the
00:41same
00:41coming up with me for like quite a few years in a row um I remember one called Charlie Tamble
00:46from
00:46under 10s to under 14s I had him for five years straight and I think having that continuity of
00:51coaching and and the place which you can almost call home is really important for for your development
00:57and you've spoken a bit about some of the other sports you played while growing up we also know
01:01that you got very good grades at school again with your upbringing having it seems like football was
01:08not the only thing you didn't sacrifice everything for football do you think that's also maybe helped
01:14you get to where you are today yeah I think first of all is I have to thank God because
01:20he's given me
01:21the talents which I've which I which I have at the moment and I also have to give credit to
01:25my parents
01:27the people around me um for giving me such a such a good upbringing and they sort of give me
01:32the
01:33platform to to be able to do those other sports and to go to Fulham and to take me to
01:38Newcastle away
01:40when I'm 10 years old and stuff like that so I think a lot of credit goes to my family
01:43and
01:44I'm really grateful for them and yeah all I can say is is thank you um to them and yeah
01:49I think it's
01:50been a massive part of my journey but obviously it takes a whole a whole unit to to get to
01:55where you are
01:57just hi Josh congrats on the call just just on your academic grades does that help your game in
02:03any way if you're academically very successful yeah I've I definitely think so um I know my mum
02:10would probably say so um but yeah no I I think it definitely has an impact um I think the
02:16most
02:17important thing about being good um with academically and education wise is that you're able to take on
02:23information uh much more quickly and you can almost take on information which might take a bit longer
02:29for other people so I think that definitely helps um and yeah I've it's never been a hindrance to me
02:34it's always been something which has helped me and being able to communicate with my teammates and
02:38and sometimes younger players sometimes older players is a massive part of football so
02:42I think having those skills is really important and if it hadn't been football you obviously I'm
02:47guessing you had options what would you have been if uh um it's a good question I don't know what
02:53I
02:53would uh why I would have been I sometimes say I would have liked to be a lawyer just because
02:57my dad
02:57was a lawyer and um he's very good at it and so maybe I'd like to follow in his footsteps
03:03but
03:03I know I always the passion was always football so I think that was always which which draw me closest
03:09to it just quickly ask you about your mum as well but can you talk about her PhD
03:13that's again it's a little bit unusual I guess but yeah no it's incredible um yeah my mum is very
03:20close to finishing her PhD um in sickle cell disease um which is a disease which usually affects the
03:28black and mixed community uh community um and yeah she she's an incredible woman and she's someone
03:36who I really look up to um her work ethic and um the way she holds herself is is incredible
03:42and
03:43something which I strive to be more like
03:46Hi Josh um you're clearly someone who's very capable lots of different things on the rugby I mean
03:52if you'd focused on that instead of football any chance you could have been turning out for
03:55the red rose instead of I doubt it I doubt it I think um the level which they're playing at
04:01is
04:01is too high for me and um yeah the the amount of hours and things which they put into it
04:07is is
04:08is top top level so I think it's uh that would have been difficult I think football was always my
04:12passion and I was really better at football um but yeah I would love to play a bit of rugby
04:18after my
04:18career um just because it's quite physical so I don't want to get injured but yeah and you were
04:24asked about your ultimate aim you know winning the world cup but looking at that interview you did
04:28with Theo Walcott not that long ago it seems like your individual ultimate aim might be even higher
04:32to be the best midfielder of all time I think you said yeah I know that would that would definitely
04:37be something which would uh which would be incredible yeah well just on that does that feel
04:41like more of a sort of you said you've been saying it since you were a kid is that the
04:45kind of thing
04:45that you said you know when you're a child or do you still kind of hold on to that and
04:49something
04:50that you genuinely wish to aspire to to be one day yeah of course if I can get to that
04:54level then
04:55that's something which I which I definitely aspire to be since I was a kid um I think I said
05:00um in
05:00another question that maybe playing for England and scoring for England felt slightly unachievable
05:05when I was younger but when you get to that point and you keep working and you keep striving to
05:09get
05:09there then anything's achievable if you if you put your mind to it sure hey Josh just sort of on
05:16that
05:16theme are there any midfielders that you've watched over the last three four five years
05:21not molding yourself on but you you're taking bits from in order to sort of help your own game
05:26yeah that's a that's a good question there's a lot of players who I've enjoyed watching over the
05:32last years I mean one is in the dressing room with me someone like Jude is is incredible the way
05:37he
05:37plays and the the way he conducts himself on the football pitch um his energy his passion for the
05:43game and his quality is is really top so he's someone who I've definitely look up to
05:47um players like Musiala and Pedri players like that who are very good on the ball who are
05:53technically gifted um are really really interested in me and I've always tried to play like those sort
05:59of players those players who always want the ball and can get on the ball and make things happen so
06:03just creative players really um yeah can I just go back to what you were talking about um the pre
06:08-camp
06:08in in Miami earlier obviously you said everyone was really welcoming um Bellingham and Kane etc
06:14but what could you take as a player from that experience what could you learn from from being
06:20around them for for a week or two I think the main thing you take is the standards which they
06:25set um
06:27the the way they conduct themselves and the way they perform every day the way they train um and the
06:33way that they take every single thing seriously almost the will to win the the competitive edge which
06:38I think is so important at the highest level of football so I think that's the main thing I took
06:42away um but obviously like little things like technical things the way some people strike the
06:47ball um the way some people pass just little things which you almost take without even thinking about
06:53it um also have impact weren't even like taking you to one side instead giving you little tips or
06:58um I wouldn't say there was too much of like specific like technical stuff but if I was to ask
07:04a
07:04question then they'd all be sort of really happy to help and um that probably happened on a few
07:09occasions where I was like how do you finish in this way or what would you do in this scenario
07:13and
07:13it always sort of helps to then add to my game
07:18Hi again Josh you're building a fantastic career already what message would you have for past Josh and
07:23future Josh again what what message would you have for past Josh and future Josh um past Josh I would
07:31say
07:34I would say um I would say well done and well done for keeping believing um and well done for
07:43not
07:43being led astray but keeping my head down and working hard and and staying humble and and listening to my
07:49parents really um and future Josh I'd say the exact same thing to be honest I'd say keep working hard
07:55I'd say stay humble I'd say I'd say be resilient um and and keep working hard to achieve my dreams
08:03dreams thank you everyone and you there cheers okay cheers guys thank you appreciate it
08:07cheers
