The Captain presented by Verizon: Tyler Adams on the USMNT's World Cup Highs & Lows, Flo Balogun's Red Card, and Playing Against Andoni Iraola

0:00Tyler Adams:The one question I get most after all that football memory making we experienced across America this summer is, how do I keep the magic going? I'd start by saying, articulate what you love the most and then build on it. First step, find the team that will most probably break your heart and then add all the supporting necessities to build your weekend tradition. The key to so many of mine, it's Walmart, the place that has it all, the snacks, the coffee, the pies. You can also get the TV at Walmart, the hoodie to wear on your couch. Get the couch if you need it and wait. It gets better because their express delivery can get it right to your door.

0:38Tyler Adams:So you're all set for kickoff. Whatever your matchday needs are, you can find them at walmart.com slash soccer. Delivery timing varies by order size, traffic, weather and demand. Subject to availability. Fees and terms apply. You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network Suboptimal Radio. I don't think any of us had expected to go into the Belgium game with him playing. Backtrack to the Bosnia game, as soon as he gets a red card, you're like, well, we got to get through this game first. But I don't know how that affected Balo on a personal level. But I know that if it was me in that situation, it would have been weird to think that I was kind of a target in terms of, oh, well, they got their best player back and now he has an opportunity to play.

1:18Like, we have more motivation, more fire to beat them. But in terms of the team and the morale and everything, I think everyone's excited, right? Like, Balo's able to play.

1:30My guest today is an uppercut of a midfielder, whether he's playing on England's south coast with the mighty Bournemouth or leading a US man into the games that lie ahead.

1:40Tyler Adams:To talk about the Premier League season so far, debrief on the World Cup. This episode of The Captain is presented by Verizon, live from Atlanta. It's a joy to welcome back. It's Tyler Adams. Yes, Raj. Thanks for having me. Oh, Tyler, let's start with Andoni Erol. he's returned to Bournemouth now the manager of Liverpool what was that like did that game feel different and if so how no it it felt strange to say the least it almost felt like a training exercise of some sort because the football that they play now and how he's trying to transform that team felt like our training sessions 11 v 11 back in the days so when I first came to Bournemouth and we were kind of going through that transformation process of of what he wanted the club to look like and the the style of play he wanted us to play it feels like they're going through that process now So obviously a good team, but it was weird.

2:28You make it sound like Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man. Yeah. What was that like at the beginning for you in that famous spell when Bournemouth didn't have a win in 10 games, but the ideas were bedding in? Yeah, it's a process and you really have to stick to the process. And I think every manager has their philosophy and knows when it's time to change. The thing that I love about Andoni is he's adamant that this is the way that he wants to play and it will work. It was just a matter of time. So, you know, going through that process and training of just, you know, creating the habits, creating the process of what we want the games to look like.

2:59Eventually, our fortune changed. And as everyone knows, once it all clicked, it clicked.

3:03Tyler Adams:What's the hardest thing to get your head around about his idea? I don't think it's the hardest thing to get around. I think it's just the idea that we need to play high intensity football for 90 minutes every single game. And, you know, as anyone knows, in the Premier League, it's difficult to withstand that level of physicality for 90 minutes against any Premier League team. And to do it for 38 games in a season is difficult. But, you know, we wrapped our heads around it quickly. We got more fit. We were able to become more durable. And once it clicked, it clicked. Serious question. What's it like in game to see the manager you've been looking at for the past three seasons suddenly is in another technical area?

3:39I mean, for me, I don't care, man. I flip a switch when I get out on the field. Everyone's the enemy on the other side, man. And for those 90 minutes, he's the enemy. And then we shake hands after. You didn't pay attention to him when he was your manager? Is that what you're talking about? No, no, no. Whatever he's doing on the sideline, hopefully I don't got to look to the sideline too often. Did you speak to Andoni before or after the game? Yeah, I spoke to him quickly after the game. He's helped me tremendously in my career. He means a lot to me in the period that I went through when I first arrived at the club.

4:10the belief that he had in me same with the assistants his athletic coach that he brought with him as well they they are all amazing for me so nothing but good things to say about them

4:18Tyler Adams:what's he really like i mean you both arrived summer of 2023 same time bournemouth sword they were like mid-table also runs and they become they're in europe as he left from the inside what are the strengths that he brings to his team the strengths that took you from middle of the table to the first ever european run he has a unique way of pulling talent out of players and just really developing them. And I think that's just through giving them opportunity in games. So, you know, for a lot of teams, they might not give the 19, 20 year old an opportunity, whereas he doesn't look at you as a 19, 20 year old, 21 year old, whatever you are at a young age with lack of experience.

4:54He says the games are going to be the experience, whether they go, you know, amazing or terrible. It's an experience that will be useful for you. So he gives you this game opportunity. And I really think that's where he found to get the best out of so many of the young players in our group.

5:36Tyler Adams:Tyler. And Tony came on our show a couple of weeks ago and he said, I've never coached a team filled with massive transfers. You know, he'd never coached a team with huge expectations every game. You know, I said, why are you doing it now? He said, I would like to take myself out of my comfort zone. What makes you most confident he can do it? I think it's the belief that he instills in all the players. He's a madman when it comes to the tactics and understanding, but it's also so simple. Like it's pretty black and white the way that he wants to play. It's chaotic when it's on the field and you want to suffocate your opponent and make them really feel that way.

6:08But it's so simple. It's black and white. And the amazing thing about him is that if you don't do it, then he'll find the person that will do it. And for me, that's where I found that, you know, he showed a lot of belief in the way that I played in the way that I did things because I was able to adapt to the way that he wants to play. but if you don't do it it's next man up and yeah I think he'll find the players that want to do it and they'll be successful The result didn't go the way you wanted at the weekend but there's one moment late in the second half you and Milos Kerk as former teammates at Bournemouth you clashed by the goal line shoulder to shoulder followed by a quick stare down what were you trying to say in that moment what did that feel like internally?

6:43Listen if it went the other way I wouldn't have heard the end of it from Milos so I couldn't let it I couldn't let it go that way let's just say that We've just begun An eternity. Almost three weeks of international break.

6:56Tyler Adams:No Premier League. It's a lot. Manchester City, top of the table. Brighton just being Arsenal. Incredible cliffhanger. The three B teams, Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth, all seen as the remarkably run outfits in the Premier League. You love to talk about the Bermuda Triangle of B teams. Two of you are in Europe this year. You seem to be able to sell players to massive clubs, but keep on running. How do you understand it from the inside? What is the secret of the B club? Listen, I think the recruitment has just been unreal from all of those clubs. They find hidden gems coming from areas that maybe people weren't looking.

7:33I think the challenge probably becomes in the future that the teams will start looking at who Bournemouth, Brighton, and Renford are interested in because that could be the next player. So I think it becomes a lot more competitive. But yeah, I don't know. For Bournemouth, I think there's now this DNA of being able to develop players, move them on, know that we want you for a certain period of time, and then we'll give our word that you do the right things and you're going to have the opportunity to move on. And I think players trust that process, which they should because now they have the track record in order to prove that.

8:05So yeah, it just continues.

8:06Tyler Adams:A couple of quick ones sent in from fans. Bobble wants to know, who's the hardest player to defend against in the Premier League? Ooh, hardest player to defend against? I mean, listen, all the midfielders are tricky. Wingers are tricky. You know, Cole Palmer, when he's on it, is one of the best players in the league. He finds spaces in certain areas of the field where you think that a player is going to lose the ball and he's just so tidy. He'll meg you somehow, like just crazy things. He's a super talented player. It would almost be an honour to be made by Cole Palmer. Does he talk to you in game, Cole?

8:41Cole Palmer is the most calm player that you'll ever play against. He never gets too frustrated, never gets too high. He scores a goal, he's pretty nonchalant. They concede a goal, he's nonchalant. He goes with the flow. He's the only player I know who genuinely is using a Premier League football career to become a Premier Ice salesman for reals, which is just a mean to an end. Cam Leslie asks, Tyler, Best stadium, apart from obviously the tiny cauldron that is the vitality to play in the Premier League. Best away stadium. Best away stadiums are St. James Park, obviously Newcastle. Because? The atmosphere is just unreal.

9:19I mean, any way you go up north is unreal. And then I got to say Ellen Road. Ellen Road is unbelievable. It's the loudest. Whether you're getting cheered for or against, in my case. Now I get booed. Before I was getting cheered. Before I was getting cheered for. Now I'm getting booed, which is also an honour. I take that with a lot of pride. They boo you because they love you. Lee Snek wants to know, which is a great question,

9:42Tyler Adams:which one Bournemouth player do you wish you could make American to play alongside you in the US Men's National Team? Oh my God, we have so many talented players. So many talented players, but to play alongside me, obviously Alex Scott, that's my partner in crime. I think that our relationship from the first day that we arrived at the club since we arrived at the same time and how we've grown together, I think a lot of people would say that were a tough midfield to play against so I would definitely say my partner in crime there describe what he brings what he has what he does that just sets him apart for me he's probably outside the big six pound for pound one of the best footballers in the premier league outside the big six I mean inside the big six he is you know like I don't say these things lightly either when I talk about that but I feel like that's kind of one of those things in in England right that people say you know outside the big six it doesn't matter any take any midfielder like Like, he's one of those guys that I'm taking regardless.

10:34And for me, he's the definition of a complete midfielder. I'm not sure really a weakness in his game. I don't know if people could really tell me a weakness in his game. And I think that's what makes him so talented. And I see him get better every single day. So I don't want to say it, but he'll be somewhere sooner rather than later. Alex Scott, and that somewhere is the United States men's national team. I'm trying to get him a passport. Come on, baby. We are now two months past the end of the World Cup.

11:00Tyler Adams:since the US man we went to the round of 16 for falling 4-1 to Belgium when you think back to it when someone mentions World Cup 2026 what's the standout memory the unforgettable moment for you for me the game against Australia after um when we were all singing country roads like for me I don't I don't know if that that will ever go down as the turning point in American soccer do you know what I mean but for me it just felt like it like I've never been playing in a stadium in America where everyone seemed so locked in and so happy for a moment for us. It felt like we dominated that game. We played good football.

11:35And then after the fans were happy, and it just felt like from that point on out, it was just, it was amazing.

11:40Tyler Adams:I mean, it was an amazing World Cup. The moments of quality we had, but that 4-1 loss to Belgium, it's like the needle coming off a record. What went wrong that day? We spoke right after you lost to the Netherlands in 2022. you know like we were tired we were you know we were just dead like the group games took it out of us and those games were packed together this was a kind of world cup schedule wise when you think about that day and it was an agony mostly because it was such a shock out of nowhere how did you experience it and what would you remember that you put your finger on this to to the main reason yeah for me it's immediately frustration right just you think what can you do more was it not our day what went wrong like all these things but then then you look back on it and you just think to yourself in certain situations and I've had these games in the Premier League I've had these games in in Europe when I was in Leipzig it's like there's just certain days that aren't your day and it just felt like it wasn't our day do you know what I mean like um it didn't feel like even when we had a good moment that the touch was right to set up for the shot or the shot where we have a chance was on target and the keeper just made a good save it wasn't even like the small details it just felt like not a lack of luck the game is not all luck but we didn't put ourselves in situations to even be lucky do you know what i mean so where in other games you're putting yourself in to create chances and the keeper's making good saves and just wasn't your day it just didn't feel like it was the right moment and i think there was just noise there was expectations and that that comes with it that's part of it and that's the experience that you need um to gain but toe-to-toe with that team against belgium belgium's an amazing squad but just to say that to say that we can't compete with them I think that's I think that's crazy do you know what I mean like player for player I think that you know we had the quality to to be able to do something just didn't feel like it was in our favor how much of a distraction was that Balogun red card chaos you know you want to go into that game focus this was this was always an upside down entry listen I think the whole situation was was obviously a bit odd I don't think any of us had expected to to go into the Belgium game with him playing like in our minds obviously like backtrack to the Bosnia game as soon as he gets a red card you're like well you know what i mean we got to get through this game first but you know after this we we obviously we miss a valuable player um and then in just to the lead up all everything that started to kind of pop up and whatnot i don't know how that affected affected ball on a personal level how did it affect me why why would that affect me i'm i'm not involved in that do you know what i mean like that's not my situation um but i know that if it was me in that situation it would have been weird to think that i was kind of a target do you know what i mean in terms of oh well they got their best player back and now he has an opportunity to play like we we have more motivation more fire to beat them i don't know how that affected him um but in terms of the team and the morale and everything i think everyone's excited right like ball's ball's able to play like that's that's great news but i don't know i think on the i think on the outside it was probably something bigger than it actually was united states that inability man to reach the quarterfinals it's an agony how do you explain it like how do you understand it we've done it once yeah I don't know I think it's like you just need players to perform in big games and I think that's something that we're we're all trying to figure out but it's like if you don't if players aren't you know put in these big moments with their clubs and don't have something to to really play for that that means something like throughout the season that when you get to this game it's like I'm playing against Belgium and I look across and I see Trissard and I play Tielemans and I'm like I've played them already three times each this season do you know what i mean like that's not quality players but i'm i'm comfortable this is my this is my comfort zone i'm playing against premier league players again i know i know what i need to do you just want as many players as possible ready to to deal with those circumstances does a world cup defeat feel different to any other kind of defeat how long is it linger i mean listen for me again i think you know me i think anyone that knows me defeat in my mind is they they all feel the same they like i want to win every game exactly the same i think for me as an American and playing in a World Cup on home soil.

15:38Like I did really want that. I wanted that more than other games, if that makes sense, just like deep down. Do you know what I mean? We all did. Yeah, yeah. And I know just how much it meant to everyone and it meant so much to the guys in the changing room and the team. Again, it's just getting over that hump.

15:56Tyler Adams:And now to Getting Closer, presented by Verizon, where Tyler Adams gives fans an inside look at the pivotal moments of opportunity, challenge, of growth that shaped his rise. Tyler, you're currently back in camp for the first time since the World Cup. Third cycle, Tyler. Road to 2030, please God, begins. How does this team feel different progress-wise to the one you joined as an 18-year-old back in, was it 2017? It's a long time ago. I'm almost 10 years in, which is crazy. It's so crazy. Yeah, it's interesting, right? It's really interesting. And I try and compare my journey to some of these young kids.

16:35And it's really, really so different for so many different reasons. You know, when I came in, I was a 17 or 18 year old kid that had already played a couple seasons in MLS. And I was thinking in my mind, even before we didn't qualify for 2018, that I should have been I should have already been playing with the national team. Do you know what I mean? And now I think it's a lot. Now, I don't know if it's a better situation than what I went into, but it's a situation that we're not relying on these young kids to anything to happen overnight. Whereas when I came in, it was like, you guys better be good because we got to woke up qualifying in two years again.

17:11Do you know what I mean? And I need to be ready for that. So I think the development and the process of how they develop these young players now, there's time. There's time. There's no pressure. It all needs to happen organically. We have some experienced still sort of young players Like I'm 27 years old. You know what I mean? I'm in the the best part of my career for in my head. And I think that I'm able to help these players with the experience that I have coming in as a veteran, which is still weird to say at 27 to be able to help them. So I think when I came in, you know, I had, you know, Michael Bradley and Bedoya for one camp.

17:45And then after that, it was like it was talks of like you're going to be captain for a game. And I was like, captain, I ever got I got five caps. Do you know what I mean? So it's definitely it's it's definitely different circumstance. but it's great it's just it's great to to have new faces with the balance of experience that we have

18:00Tyler Adams:so it's exciting i mean it's a very experimental squad you're joining i think of the 28 gents called up to this camp yeah i think so 28 i think only 13 were involved in the world cup there's 12 is it 13 of them called up for the first time what does it feel like you've just built towards of gold the world cup 2026 which we've been dreaming about forever you got there now you have to start again with so many new pieces new culture building almost from the start again like Sisyphus yeah I think you're building something but for me Maurizio is so amazing in in in building a culture that it's like you get on board right away do you know what I mean like it's you come into camp get on board right away or you're not a part of of what we're trying to build so again And without looking past, obviously, 2028 and Copa America and the Gold Cups and the Nations Leagues and all these things, it's like, what an opportunity for these young guys that like post a World Cup, we have four friendlies in the first international break and you're going to have an opportunity to really test yourself because, you know, playing against Mexico, playing against Canada, it's not the same.

19:06And you don't learn until you're put in the situation and find out. So again, sometimes you just need to be thrown in the deep end and, you know, sink or swim.

19:14Tyler Adams:What's it like, the getting to know your process on a vastly new squad? The same as anything else. I mean, listen, I'm a relatable person for a lot of these kids, obviously, that are coming from MLS. I was once that kid that was trying to break through into a national team from MLS. I think MLS is even more respectable now, obviously, than when I was coming through. But for a lot of these kids, it's just be yourself. Go on the training pitch. Do our work. Work humbly. Respect each other. Try and get better. Move the federation further and further along to our goals. Done. Like that's what you need to do to be able to improve the squad and improve yourself.

19:50And if we can all do that and be on the collective and the same page, we're going to be a better team for it.

19:55Tyler Adams:There's a number of teams on this squad. Same age as when you joined the squad for the first time. You were a kid. Yeah. You were 17, 18, I think you were. Yeah. Back in the US, as you point out, they just failed to qualify for the World Cup. And a whole new generation of you came in together and pushed out the old one. what does that feel like now as the most experienced veteran in this squad it's you and chris richards on 58 caps to suddenly find yourself on the other end of of the life cycle in terms of national team crew i feel like i'm in the middle of my my my journey tim ream played until his 70s man exactly for me it was like when i was coming into the national team there was no middle middle players like there was no players in the middle of their cycles so it was like me And then it was like Bedoya who was, you know, starting to phase out Michael Bradley, who was starting to phase out like those guys.

20:48And it was like two camps later, it was like we were the core group. And there was no Kellen Acosta. Maybe he was he was four years older than us. That was it. So now I look at the squad and it's like we have a great balance to to the team. So like for these young guys, they have something to work towards in 2030. And then, yeah, we have a core group still, which I think is important. I think it may be a zen quote one minute you're a kid the next you're an hunk yeah I mean I'm definitely hunk now I got two kids now I'm trust me then I got to worry about you know a bunch of other kids coming in they'll be getting call-ups alongside you yeah yeah I mean I'll try and play as long as I can so I can play with them oh well it's gonna be a bronny situation but what do you

21:31Tyler Adams:remember from as a teen that you wasted international experience that you passed down to any younger player at the beginning of their journey what's the most important thing they should make yeah for me listen it was coming in and of course proving myself I wanted to prove that I was a quality player but like put that aside it was like what do I want to be remembered for when when these guys leave I don't care if they say Tyler Adams is the best player I want them to say he works extremely hard he came on time to everything he was a good professional already at a young age and he has the potential to be the best in his position ever for the national team like that's what I wanted to to leave them with and plant the seed in their head whether I got called back or not after that obviously the rest is history but I think for me the the biggest thing was planting that seed and this could be your your first call up this could be your last call up you just can't take these moments for granted because I'll tell you know all these guys before they have the potential opportunity to get their first cap that it's you know that feeling that you get for putting the national team jersey the senior national team jersey on for the first time and walking out and hearing the national anthem it doesn't get better than that it won't get better than that you know know i'm i'm going on cap i think 60 or something like that which is which is great but i still remember that first time like it was yesterday so i think it's important that they value that it felt like a long time ago tyler no i mean it wasn't that long ago like see like you're you're making you're making me feel you're making me feel old like i'm not i'm definitely not old i mean i played in two world cups which is crazy to say but i know like i mean maybe tomorrow knows I mean this moment that you came in was crazy all these young guys flooding in and being made very quickly and and for some of you it's very uncomfortable the face of the team you know the team on the posters on the ticket marketing and all of that I remember you're like whoa bro Tim Weyer came in with Weston McKinney they were you know teenagers too like whoa but they were shocked they just got shown that they were the face of the the marketing for the next game like yo how's They were both thrilled, but also kind of like, oh my God, why?

23:29Tyler Adams:We've got two caps, you know. And a lot of these players are not here in this camp. Christian's not here. Western's not here. Flo's not here. And Poch said, all have the door open, but it's not what I did in the past. Now it's about today. Football is about today. Soccer is about today. I love how he said both football and soccer to make it very clear. That's the way we want to build this cycle. Or how does it feel to not be at camp, this brotherhood, to not have them alongside you? Yeah, I mean, obviously it's tough when they're not here, but they're obviously all not here for different reasons.

24:04Obviously guys returning from injury and not playing as much recently and just getting back into rhythm of things and everything. But I think it's just also a reminder to so many young guys out there that you're going to get your opportunity if you do the right things throughout this next process. We're going to need more and more guys to step up as, you know, bigger competitions arrive and preparation for things like the Olympics and different opportunities. So I think it's, again, an opportunity for a lot of people more than anything.