United States assistant coach BJ Callaghan said oft-injured midfielder Tyler Adams “looks fit” ahead of an action-packed summer that includes a pair of friendlies in June against Colombia and Brazil, as well as the start of the Copa América later in the month. .
Adams missed much of the season with the Bournemouth club due to injury. Last October he underwent his second hamstring surgery in seven months, which kept him out until February.
After making a pair of appearances for the USMNT in the Concacaf Nations League in March, he had to deal with back spasms. In total, Adams logged just 118 minutes in three appearances at club level this season.
While Callaghan was reluctant to link back problems to Adams' CNL appearances, he likes what he has seen so far from the American captain, whose range and tackling make him a vital part of the American midfield.
“I can only tell you that [Adams] “He's in great spirits,” the coach told reporters on a Zoom call as an initial group of 12 players began training in Maryland on Wednesday. “He looks fit, he's here training and we've had a really great partnership with Bournemouth over the last two weeks to make sure we've developed a plan that will allow him to maximize his performance here during the friendlies and the Cup.”
American goalkeeper Matt Turner has faced a different set of challenges than Adams, namely getting consistent playing time at Nottingham Forest. Turner made only a handful of appearances in 2024 and none after March 1, as he lost his spot in the starting lineup to Matz Sels.
But Turner remains optimistic that his work habits will serve him well in the USMNT.
“I approach training every day with the same mentality, whether I'm playing or not,” he said. “I work very, very hard. I try to improve in every area I can and just be ready.
“I prepare for games like I'm going to play, as exhausting as it may be; I'm hoping that maybe my name will be on the team sheet for that game, even though I probably know it in the back of my mind. No. It is. I prepare myself as if maybe it is.
“So I try to maintain that level of professionalism every day, every training session and I move forward and understand that obviously if I want to keep this jersey here, I have to perform when I come here. So I have to do it.” To stay engaged, I have to be prepared, focused and motivated.”
Turner's main competition with the United States will come from Ethan Horvath, who as Turner's teammate at Forest had his own problems with a lack of playing time during the first half of the season. But a January move to Cardiff City gave Horvath's club career a boost as he made 16 league appearances.
However, while Turner has struggled to get back on the field, he still feels like he has improved his game.
“I think overall I've become a lot more adaptable. I've had to learn how to do certain things that maybe I wasn't as comfortable with on the fly,” Turner said. “I think I have improved a lot in handling balls into the area, in looking for crosses and also in defending the space behind my defensive line. And yes, sometimes I went through difficult moments on the field and then I had to level out and I did a good job. performance after.
“I've changed a lot as a person in my family life, as a player and I will continue to use every experience I get as fuel to push myself forward and continue to improve and continue to be a guy, whether it's a good or bad experience, that has a smile on my face that the kids can admire.”
Joining Turner and Horvath to start camp are defenders Chris Richards and Joe Scally, midfielders Gio Reyna, Malik Tillman and Luca de la Torre, and forwards Brenden Aaronson, Folarin Balogun, Josh Sargent and Haji Wright for what will be the most complete tournament of the group of players. Training camp expanded from the 2022 World Cup.
Callaghan said the goal is to “try to solidify a lot of the principles and identity that we want to play with,” and 14 more players are due to report on Sunday.
Gregg Berhalter's team is in Group C of the Copa América, to be held in the United States, and will begin playing Bolivia on June 23 before facing Panama on June 27 and Uruguay on July 1 in an attempt to reach the knockout round of the Copa América. tournament.
