Former England international Rickie Lambert announced his retirement last week from football.
Best known for his time at Southampton where he spent five seasons, the Liverpudlian saw the side earn two promotions in successive seasons to the Premier League.
International recognition beckoned including a trip to the 2014 World Cup. Such was his impressive form for Southampton and England, Lambert earned a move to his boyhood heroes Liverpool three years ago.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Lambert revealed that his move to Liverpool was the start of him falling out of love with the game.
I was getting well paid but I never started playing football for the money. And when I decided to go to Liverpool I sacrificed a regular first-team place and that was when I started to fall out of love with it. I never should have accepted being on the bench, even though Brendan Rodgers had made it clear to me I would be back-up for Suarez and Sturridge.
I was never as quick or as technically good as the best players, but in my own head, when it came to actually playing, I could convince myself I was the best.
But when I joined up with England I felt lucky to be there, and it was the same at Liverpool. And when I look back now I realise I lost something mentally as a player, by allowing that to happen.
Lambert only spent a season at Anfield, scoring three goals. He moved to West Brom the following summer, before spending last season at Cardiff City.
The move to Anfield marked the beginning of the end of his career as a top-level striker. Scoring 13 League goals in his final season with Southampton, he would only score seven more goals in the league.
Following your heart is not always the right thing to do for your career.
