'It’s go time' - USMNT's Tyler Adams targets breakthrough season with Bournemouth

Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams revealed his ambitious plans for the upcoming Premier League season, highlighting how his limited but successful return to action last spring has restored his confidence. The American has missed 47 games since he signed for the club in the summer of 2023 and emphasized that last season's brief return to Premier League action provided crucial psychological reassurance about his recovery.

“This past season gave me the confidence that I needed to now say: ‘You could take the next step. Let’s take another step in development. Take a step in pushing yourself’,” Adams told the Athletic. “Now it’s like: ‘OK, I’m back to myself, I feel like myself'...I’ve had a nice break. I’m going to be able to get a nice preseason. And (then) it’s go time.”

The 26-year-old also touched upon his time with the Gold Cup and the period spent with the USMNT squad, as well as Mauricio Pochettino. He admitted that it was a great learning experience for him and that he was able to iron out what the Argentine wanted and how he expected the team to work.

“It was a great learning experience,” Adams explained. “Just because I hadn’t been in his initial camps to begin with. So I think a lot of guys had a lot more time with him than I’ve had. Just ironing out that relationship, what he wants from the players, how the players can get the best out of the coaching staff, just balancing that relationship.

“You hear about him in the way that he works, but until you spend a month with him, you don’t really know. I’ve had the opportunity to do that now, so I feel like that will be really helpful in the long run, for not just myself, but a lot of the young guys that had the first opportunity as well.”

Adams has struggled with injuries ever since his move to the Premier League, missing a large chunk of games for both Leeds United and Bournemouth. His time with the Cherries has seen him struggle with back and hamstring injuries before returning to fitness in the second half of the 2024-25 season.

Adams played a part in Bournemouth's preseason program under manager Andoni Iraola and is now focused on the club’s first game of the season against Liverpool on Aug. 15.