EXCLUSIVE USA captain Tyler Adams on the 'wake up call' facing World Cup organizers... and why he's backing Gold Cup absentees

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

USA captain Tyler Adams believes his country's summer of soccer has been a 'wake up call' ahead of the World Cup next year.
Both the expanded Club World Cup and Gold Cup have been hosted in the United States this summer, and Adams believes organizers will have their hands full when 48 nations descend upon the USA, Mexico and Canada in 2026.
'I think that it's a learning experience and learning curve that they've needed to take. And I'm honestly very thankful that they're having the Club World Cup and Gold Cup there, and all these tournaments there right now, because I think it's a big wake up call for what they need to prepare for,' Adams said, while promoting his partnership with lawncare company Scotts.
'In terms of, stadiums weren't even necessarily all full for these Club World Cup games, and they're going to be completely full for World Cup games. So how you deal with capacities, how you deal with weather, all these things can change.
'I think it was the Chelsea game that gets delayed for two hours, stuff like that. You need to prepare for these kinds of things when they happen, and make sure teams are prepared for them as well.'
While the Club World Cup has gathered momentum in the latter stages of the tournament, there have been issues such as slow ticket sales, empty seats and complaints about the playing surface at MetLife Stadium (where the World Cup Final will be held).
The home of the New York Giants and Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey is notoriously inconvenient to get to, and Adams is already wary of the challenges that could present fans next year.
'Travel is a big one, isn't it? It's not the normal Premier League where you can take a bus. You know what I mean? It's going to be not easy,' he said from his hometown of Wappingers Falls, New York on Tuesday.
'But listen, also, we're getting escorted in police escorts and all this stuff. So we have a luxury of being there, but for fans and stuff like that, it could prove to be difficult at times.'
The midfielder's comments from the newly-named Tyler Adams Soccer Pitch came not even two full days removed from the USA's Gold Cup Final loss to Mexico.
While Adams hailed the 'experience' that much of the new-look, essentially B-team USA squad got in the 2-1 loss to El Tri, much of the discussion during the tournament focused on who wasn't in the camp.
Christian Pulisic, most notably, earned plenty of criticism for taking a summer break to recharge his batteries, while Antonee Robinson, Sergino Dest and Folarin Balogun all took time away as well for injury maintenance.
Regardless, Adams has his teammates' backs and believes the Gold Cup absentees will have big roles to play in the future.
'I support whatever the player needs. People are talking about the culture of our team, and guys that want to be there. The guys that weren't there have helped build the culture of our team as well. They're significant in every single part of US Soccer,' he said.
'So if people need a rest and people don't need to be there, that's obviously a personal decision and a decision that they need to make, and whenever they start to funnel back in now, we know that we have something to build off of with the players that were there.
'So again, they're gonna have a significant role to play with the national team, no matter the circumstances, but we are building something special under Mauricio and he's done a really good job.'
Pochettino has had a choppy start with the United States, as his side have struggled against top competition, including a 4-0 friendly loss to Switzerland - admittedly without his top players.
There has also been a perception in certain corners that the Argentine, 53, is not fully committed to the job, and it didn't help his reputation when a report from Irish outlet The42.ie claimed that he had interviewed for the Brentford job.
He later denied the report while speaking to Fox Sports, and Adams wasn't overly concerned with hearing his coach's name next to a big opening.
'This guy's going to get linked to any job that's available,' he said. 'I mean, he's coached PSG, Chelsea, Southampton, Tottenham, those are all massive jobs. So I'm not surprised by it at all, and I can guarantee mid-season in the Premier League, there will be coaches that are getting sacked, and he'll be linked to a job in the Premier League.
'That's just the nature of being a coach, and it works both ways. And he's even said this before. It's like, anything can change in a blink of an eye. So you obviously always have to be on your toes. But we're very fortunate to have him.'
Adams didn't play under Pochettino until March following the coach's appointment to the role in September, but came away hugely impressed by what he saw during a nearly 40-day stretch of working together this summer.
'He taught me a lot about the game, just in terms of being difficult on me, making sure I'm doing the little things to improve, understanding that when we're on the field, it's time to work for the team, and when we're off on the field, take a step away,' Adams began. 'You need to see your family, go ahead. You need to do like, whatever.
'He's such an open person, and he's very transparent in the way that he works, which is great, because I think in the beginning people were obviously nervous. It was like, "Oh, we don't want to step on eggshells" and got to be careful around him.
'But he's so transparent, he wants you to come and have a conversation with him, sit down for five, 10 minutes, understand what you need, what he needs. And I think we're on that page now with every single player, which I think is important.'
While Pochettino insisted that the roster at his disposal this summer was the one that 'deserved to be here', his squad at the World Cup will surely include bigger names such as Pulisic. The likes of MLS' Diego Luna and Sebastian Berhalter, meanwhile, also made a case for themselves in recent weeks.
What's for sure is that Adams views this summer in a positive light.
'From a perspective of "Is our team in a better spot now?" I think 100 per cent, because you gave guys experiences that didn't have experiences in tournaments before with the national team, and they're gonna be able to use those experiences moving forward,' he said.
'So now, the next time we play Mexico, and there's 80,000 people in the stands screaming for goals and whatever, it's nothing new to us. It's now an experience that we've had, and we can move on grow from that.'