The Captain presented by Verizon: Tyler Adams on Bournemouth’s belief, facing Erling Haaland, and USMNT under Mauricio Pochettino 11/13/25

0:00You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network Suboptimal Radio. We know each other. Obviously, he was at Salzburg for a time. I was at Leipzig. And on the field, it was so funny. He did an American accent to me and was like Tyler Adams, but in an American accent. I was like, you got to put that on YouTube. You got to put that on YouTube. And he started cracking up. Tyler Adams.

0:27My guest today is one of the most prolific American goal scorers in the Premier League. His one goal is tied amongst our nation's men as the top league telly in 2022-26. Bournemouth are soaring pound for pound the greatest team in English football right now. And the U.S. men about to return to action. We're playing Paraguay, Uruguay, all the Guays in the week to come. It's a joy to welcome back for another episode of The Captain, presented by our friends at Verizon. It's Mr. Tyler Adams. Thanks for having me back, Rog. It's a joy to be with you. Let's dive into it. The news that everyone in the world of football is talking about.

1:07The goal trademark. Your golden war cherries facing Manchester City. Your 1-0 down. 25th minute corner wafted in by Alex Scott. Donnarumma, that giant Italian albatross of a goalkeeper, struggles to deal with the ball under pressure. Tell us what you experience in all of these moments as a ball floats in towards you, Tyler. I mean, my job is to block on set pieces. So the fact the ball dropped to me in those circumstances and that's all I had to do, I'll take it any day of the week. As that ball drops towards you, what are you experiencing? I mean, you're just like, oh my Lord, it's there for me.

1:45I black out. And you know, that's a sign of a defensive midfielder when you black out as soon as the ball, you have to try and put it in the back of the net. So for me, again, I honestly was so shocked that the ball just dropped to me in those circumstances. I always joke around with our set piece coach and just say, why do we watch every team every weekend? And the ball just drops to someone and they have a tap in. And then, yeah, finally, I got one. You didn't seem to know how to celebrate. You just kind of charged off. What did you think about? Should I do the baby celly? Should I do the celly that I've been practicing for years?

2:16Or is it just cobwebs? Everyone always says to me, why didn't you do the baby celly? And I'm like, if you think I plan my celebrations before games, you're out of your mind. That doesn't even come to mind. I'm like, go to Alex, say, let's go. And then on to the next one. You ran over to the sideline and you shouted, Evan Nielsen, Evan Nielsen. Was that you saying that you were the most potent goal scorer since Evan Nielsen? Or was he just like, I am American Evan Nielsen? No, I just joke with him all the time. It's so funny. I did his little celebration in the corner with him. And he's just too funny of a guy.

2:48So he kept saying my name and I was like, vamos, vamos. I was like, Evan Nielsen, Evan Nielsen. It was great. There's one other element of the goal that was fascinating to me. Just before the cross comes in, one of your teammates, I think it was David Brooks, hooked on Aruma's arm just long enough to probably piss him off, to irritate him. But then right before the ball comes in, he knew exactly when to unlink the arm. So there was no foul to call off. Do you guys practice that? A little bit here and there. We practice set pieces a lot. And I think that we've really developed into a team that's good at them now.

3:22But yeah, I think it's those little details that you have to kind of ride the fine line of, is it a foul? Is it not a foul? And sometimes things go your way, but it's enough to throw off a keeper. But keepers always complain about everything. They don't want any contact ever. What is the secret? I'm genuinely fascinated. A lot of talking football, set piece game now. What is the secret to a good set piece? For me, it's just everyone doing the role. Like everyone has such a specific role. Obviously, the delivery is the most important thing, but it's the timing of runs. It's blocks. It's how you separate from the people that are man-marking you, how you attack the zones at the right time, making sure you have someone that's arriving back post just in case anything drops off there.

4:01So there's so many little details that have to go right. And if you look at a team, obviously Arsenal is the best at them right now. They score almost every set piece. But you can see how long they take, how much time they take to deliver each set piece to make sure everyone's in the exact spot they need to be in. And that's what makes you successful in set pieces. I mean, are they like NFL plays at this point? Are they that coordinated, that complicated? Honestly, they are. You know, the service is like a quarterback. You have wide receivers making runs, tight ends making blocks. Do you know what I mean?

4:30Like there's just a role for every single player that needs to be spot on. So honestly, it's not a bad shot. They kind of are like NFL plays. And how many do you actually practice? Is it like genuinely an NFL playbook, Omaha, Omaha? Yeah, we practice, you know, different variables of each one. We want to have an option that if the first postman isn't there, then how do we play out? Or do we play short in this circumstance if someone's moving a certain direction? What side of the keeper to block so that the ball arrives in those spaces? If you watch Arsenal genuinely, they do the same thing every time.

4:59and the service from Declan Rice and Bakaya Osaka, the ball's in the same spot 90 times out of 100. And if you can have that percentage of the ball coming in the same spot, then it's going to lead to goals. It is. It's pitchers control, essentially, with the corners. It really is. What's changing the game. By the way, last thing on this goal, other than me saying Tyler Adams for U.S. men's national team number nine. Am I right? No, I'm not a good enough goal scorer for that. I'll tell you that. You're pretty good. Last time you were on here, you told us Andoni Arola, I'd actually ask you to add goals, plural, to your game.

5:32This was, I think, your 73rd appearance in English football or competitions. You've got, in your whole career, seven goals in 283 games total. Is your goal return? I mean, where do you think it should be? What is your honest goal? I think it depends. I don't think I've been asked to score goals in any team. I know my strengths and I don't know my weaknesses. I know that if you give me the freedom to attack the box, Of course, you're going to end up adding goals and popping up in the right spots. The hardest part is being calm, cool and collected in front of the goal. I would say my strength is probably defending more and creating chances for other players and setting them up for the right plays.

6:08But that being said, I think it's something that as you kind of grow and mature, you try to find the right spaces and right opportunities to attack. And I think this year in particular, I've arrived in good spots. I've gotten myself in good positions. I've had an eye for goal, just being a little bit more ambitious. But I also know my role in the team. Yeah, I've got to say, I was loving it at home because for one moment, the game had just shifted into a sudden goal scoring dance off between you and Erling Haaland. I don't want to mention his name with my name at the same time when it comes to goals.

6:40We're going to get back to him in one second because it is fascinating to me what he's achieving at the moment in truly transcendent fashion. But the game itself, against City at City, a place Bournemouth had never, ever won. That kind of statistic, what is it, like 10 games there now, Bournemouth lost all of them. Is that just coincidence? Or does that statistic, which is banded around a ton in the run-up to the game, does that kind of stick in your head? No, I mean, it's not easy to win at the Etihad. But that being said, we're not going to compare the Bournemouth team that we have now to the Bournemouth teams in the past.

7:14Our team has so much quality now, and we know we can go toe-to-toe with any of the teams in the league. But that being said, it's never easy to go there and dominate, let alone win. So I think in large parts of the game, it was a game that I don't want to say we had control of, but we were in the game. And I think a few little errors, a few little lapses, a lack of communication ultimately gave them a few chances. And when you give Erling Haaland a few chances, he has a few goals. So that's what it is. Before we go any further, we have to say this episode of The Captain supports you by Verizon, the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

7:47If you're with Verizon like we are, you've got the opportunity to score golden tickets to watch a portion of the FIFA World Cup from the field. For the first time ever, closer than ever before. Enter now for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win this exclusive pit side access in the My Verizon app. And if you're not a Verizon customer, make the switch today. Don't miss out. The golden ticket sweepstakes end on November the 20th, the FIFA World Cup. No one gets you closer than Verizon. and no purchase necessary for terms and conditions. Check out my access within the My Verizon app. But Tyler, under Andoni Erola, your incredible manager, Bournemouth are fearless right now, watching them week in, week out.

8:27That Bournemouth lineup, even for an away game at the Etihad, it was so attacking. You were like the sum of the defensive midfielders, Tyler. You guys just went for it tactically and mentally. Yeah, no, absolutely. And for me, that's what you have to do when you play a team like that. Like Man City plays against a low block in 90 % of their games and they still end up coming out on top. So is that necessarily the answer to playing Man City? I don't think so. And we try to kind of instill our identity and style of play. And I think for a large part of the game, like we probably made them uncomfortable.

8:59I don't think anyone on Man City is going to say we love to play against Bournemouth. And I think that's exactly what the kind of game that we want to put them in. But they have so much quality on the field. They have guys that can make certain moments in any part of the game. And that's why they're so good. It's Rog. If you haven't noticed, I absolutely adore New Balance and all that they create. And although I'm not a professional footballer, I still love their boots. Worn by some of the greatest in the game, such as Bikai Osaka, Eberichi Eze, Jeremy Frimpong and the legend James Rodriguez. Whether it's the Fioran or the T 'Kella, both boots are made for performance.

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10:30And yeah, when you score a goal early against Man City and throw the first punch, obviously that sets the tone a little bit differently. But yeah, it was unfortunate that it didn't count. That kid, four goals in seven games, you train with him every day, 19 years old. Talk about his skills. What's it like to have such a young player, a baby really, just stroll into a Premier League squad, make the Premier League look utterly easy? We knew it from the first day that he trained with us that he had so much quality. I don't think you can teach instinct in front of the goal. He knows where he's at every time he receives the ball and is always looking to make a final play.

11:02And for a 19-year-old, he just has so much confidence, but he's not arrogant by any means. He comes in every single day, takes criticism. You know, guys get on to him, you know, run more, work harder, whatever it is, and he does just that. So to see him thriving is no surprise to anyone, but he has such a high ceiling. He's going to be such a talented player. Ultimately, Bournemouth and Dunn 3-1. Erling Haaland scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season. The numbers are honestly unfathomable. He's just so punishing of the merest mistake. Can you point to words what it's like? Yeah, we watch him at home, but what do we not understand about his game?

11:38How hard is it to play him in real life? No, it's really challenging. And I think it's different because you have players that are, you know, from my position, so difficult to defend. You have, you know, the Phil Foden's, the ones that are tricky, players like that. But Erling Haaland is one of those players that you'll finish a game and it doesn't seem like he did anything magical, but he'll finish with three goals. Every single chance that he gets, it's a goal. And he's just a pure striker, pure number nine. He runs into the space so well. So if you try to play a high line against him and he gets him behind, it's an opportunity for him.

12:11He's super talented and gifted in front of the goal. When you're going into a tackle, Tyler, when you're trying to maybe shut him down, are you aware it's him? Does that go through your mind? Does he feel different on the field when you face up to him? No. I mean, again, it's so difficult for me as a midfielder to say You don't really get around strikers as much as a center back or something like that. But he just consumes so much space. When he's around the goal, you tend to see players gravitate towards him to try and defend him with one, two, three players at times. And that creates spaces in other places.

12:42And that's why he's so gifted, because even with two players on him, he could score a header. He can run him behind and score a goal, dribble the keeper. He scores goals in a lot of different ways. It's a robot celebration. Did you see that as it happened? No, I heard about it, though. He's not throwing us off the scent. is more likely robot than not right honestly with how many goals he scored it's getting to that point have you watched his youtube does he make you want to drink raw milk and eat fatty steaks no i haven't i haven't watched his youtube yet but i heard about it we know each other obviously he was at salzburg for a time i was at leipzig and on the field it was so funny he did an american accent to me and was like tyler adams but in an american accent i was like you got to put that on YouTube you got to put that on YouTube and he started cracking up Tyler Adams it was so funny funny and terrifying in equal measure um you took a stud to the knee at the end of the game you had to step off well what's the prognosis oh well good I trained today I'm I'm fine there you go America sigh of relief baby post game what do you take from a game like that Bournemouth high line high risk high reward what did you learn um that will be different from that game next time I mean, my initial reaction is frustration just in terms of I know where we're at right now as Bournemouth and where we want to go.

13:56And those are games that I genuinely want to win because I think it sets our trajectory a little bit differently. But again, it's learning experiences. There's a lot of guys that haven't played Man City on our team before, and it's their first trip to the Etihad. And although we have so many quality players, it's different when you're in that game. And sometimes you don't touch the ball for 10 minutes and you have to defend and you get opportunities and you don't know when you're going to get another one. And just those types of things, I think for a lot of our guys, it'll be a great learning experience.

14:21Yeah, I mean, there's an incredible quote from Antoine Semenya about Irola, your manager. He said he wants us to press no matter who we're playing against. I admire his bravery. He changes nothing in terms of his approach for any team. Whenever we start a game, he says, look, if you can only survive 45 minutes, give your all for 45. How do you handle that? Because so much of that is about you mentally. How does it feel constantly to prepare to give and exhaust yourself every single game? It's what you have to do, especially to go against the top teams in the league. And sometimes it feels earlier than 45 minutes that you're exhausted.

14:59But it's that mental component of what makes or breaks our team. You have to have that mental limit that you're able to continue to push. Because when we can push our limits, that's when we really test teams. I think we have a fitness level a lot higher than a lot of teams with the way that we play and the way that we run. So sometimes by the 60th minute of the game, we wear teams down and it's our subs that need to come on and make a difference. So that's our goal in games is to wear teams down. You were in second before the City game, the War of Cherries. You're currently fifth, point behind second place Manchester City.

15:30First of all, you've had just two defeats this season to Liverpool and then last weekend to Manchester City. What do you believe is Bournemouth's true weight class? I think we have the opportunity to punch above our weight class of where we're currently at right now. I think we could be a kryptonite to a lot of the way teams play. And again, I think we're getting to that caliber now where teams now respect us. But when teams respect you, sometimes it can become a little bit more difficult because before it was Man City coming to the to the vitality or Arsenal coming to the vitality. And they're like, we have to play Bournemouth this weekend, whatever, you know, and sometimes we upset them.

16:06Whereas now teams are coming in, they're bringing their best every single game. And I think that's super important for our mentality to make sure that we understand, like, it's great that we've earned the respective teams, but now we need to, you know, tick it up a notch and make sure we're playing to the highest level. I mean, at the same time, you are playing against teams who sometimes have a bench of three, four hundred million dollars. You're almost like the Toronto Blue Jays in a league where there's five or six Los Angeles Dodgers kind of rosters. You are currently in and around the Champions League places.

16:35You're also playing a tiny matchbox of a stadium. You mentioned the Vitality, 11 ,307 seats. How do you view yourselves? Are you still in your own mind like a bunch of upstarts punching above your weight? Or are you like, yeah, we are challenging for Champions League places? Anyone that knows me knows I've never viewed myself as an underdog in those sort of senses. You know, you look around our team and we have so many players in our teams that could be playing for some of the biggest clubs. We just happen to have a really good connection in chemistry right now. and we play for Bournemouth. And we're very fortunate for the platform.

17:11I think teams are surprised when they come to the vitality and it's only 11 ,000 seats, but it's full of energy and we're playing a high tempo football and the fans are cheering for us and having our back. So for me, I think we have a very special team right now. And I think we're going to be able to achieve a lot of good things. But that being said, the expectation of our team is that we have to take it game by game because we can't get ahead of ourselves. The table is still so tight. One more loss and you could be in 10th place or one more win and you can be in second place. So manage expectations, but know that we can achieve good things.

17:38From Bournemouth to the United States, the US are about to avenge your assemble next week for two games against Paraguay and Uruguay. Final matches of this 2025 calendar year for Mauricio Pochettino. Can you talk about where this squad is and what the goal is for these two games? Yeah, obviously I wasn't at the last camp, so I can't really speak to that. But just watching back the performances and talking to some of the guys, it seemed like a really cohesive group and you had a lot of guys obviously come back into the picture, do a good job playing regularly with their clubs, which is great to see.

18:10But in the final camp of the window, I think we just need to take it as it comes because it's a long time until March and it's going to feel like a really long time that we're not together and have that chemistry. So the closer bond that we can continue to build and the more tactically we can, you know, become more sound, I think the better for our team. You missed the last two US games for the best of reasons. As you mentioned, you and your wife, Sarah, welcomed your second son. We'll talk more about him in just one moment what is it like emotionally for you to miss a u.s camp is it hard or i mean you were having a baby so like your mind was most certainly possibly elsewhere since i had my injuries a couple years ago it really taught me to um be present with with whatever's happening in my life at the moment and to be honest with you i couldn't think less about the national team when i'm about to have my second kid i was so focused on you know supporting sarah welcoming our second son, just enjoying the time that we have together because it's really rare in football that you have time with your family.

19:06And under these circumstances, Bournemouth gave me, I don't know what it was, four or five days off to just be able to relax and spend time with my family, which I didn't take any of that second for granted. So now being able to join back with the national team, I'm super excited to be back with the boys and work because I know it's such a privilege and I take so much pride in representing the country. But under those circumstances, I wouldn't trade it for anything. There's going to be no Christian Pulisic in this camp. AC Milan, and Lenny in rehab from a hamstring strain he picked up from the last window.

19:33Mentally, how different is it for you to report without Christian in the team? It's difficult, obviously. You know, seeing him get injured at the time and form that he was playing, you know, obviously sucked because he's playing with some of the best in the world right now. His name was up there in every single category you looked at. Goals, assists, chances created, just everything. He was playing out of his mind. So, yeah, hopefully he's able to recuperate now, take some time and just focus on that because again, it's at that part in the season where there's a lot of games coming up throughout that winter period and he's just going to need to focus on his body and get right.

20:04This US midfield is so unbelievably tight. The competition for minutes, for starts, for everything. You, Western McKinney, Brendan Aronson, Diego Luda, Christian Roldan could keep going on. What's it feel like from the inside that battle? It is one of the most competitive for that final squad. It's almost like there's a wild card chaos about it the fight for places and minutes. Yeah, I think it's really fun because it shows the depth of the squad and how good we could push each other to be. So, you know, for me, you can't take any situation, any game, any minute for granted. And I think that's what Poch has done so unbelievably well during these camps is he's really pushing people, testing people.

20:46This is what pressure is. When you have someone, you know, every single day in training pushing you, when you have, you know, five people down the depth chart that are just as good or playing at a high level, playing consistently with their clubs in Europe, doing really well. And then reintegrating guys from the MLS. Like, you know, I was a guy that came from MLS and I was wanting to push the guys in Europe to the next level. Like, let's see what you're really about. You know what I mean? Like everyone talks about, you know, you have to play in Europe. You have to do this. Why can't a guy in the MLS, you know, push us to take another step or play at a better level?

21:17So, you know, for me, it's been a great sense of competition from the squad. I think everyone's welcomed it. What does that battle look like from the inside? Is it players like killing themselves to win the burpees? Is it like every training match becomes fiercely competitive? Or was it more like, let's do our arguing viral club form? No, I would say that every single training that I've had with the national team since Pach has come over has been very, very competitive to say the least. So every single tackle, every single duel, guys aren't going in it to injure one another or anything like that.

21:50But just as much as it is a physical game, it's a mental game out there. and guys have competed really, really well. Can you talk about your game with Bournemouth where you're thriving and how Pochettino wants you to do is similar or different? I think tactically, we obviously play a little bit different Bournemouth than we do with the national team, which I think is great for me on an individual level because I'm just able to play and adapt to different styles of play. And Poch has challenged me to kind of set the rhythm and the tempo of the game while still doing what I do really, really well, which I think has been great.

22:20And then I think at Bournemouth, obviously we just play a very unique style of play. The World Cup draw, fast approaching December 5th. Will you watch? Where will you watch? Have you thought about it at all? It's like it's the moment when crap gets real. I haven't thought about it, but now that you say it, I think I'll watch it if I can. I think it's going to be really weird just knowing who our opponents are going to be on home soil. I think that will throw a little bit of a wrench in it compared to going to Qatar where our opponents got announced and I was like, is what it is. Like we're going to Qatar, World Cup, don't really care who we're playing.

22:56I think it will be unique to see the feeling of what it's going to be like if you draw a certain opponent playing in the US. I'm not sure. I mean, I fully expect the US to get Cape Verde, New Zealand and Jordan in that opening group state. I know it's random. Yeah, no, I don't know. I have to look at the pots again just to break it down. But obviously everyone, you know, wants to play against big countries and whatever. But obviously in terms of navigating the World Cup, you want your opponents to be favorable. So it's going to be really interesting. Listen, at the end of the day, I don't really care who we play against, whoever we play against, we play against, but it's just going to be interesting.