Yedlin: Tottenham move a ‘roadblock’ in my career

DeAndre Yedlin: Little opportunity to impress at Spurs

DeAndre Yedlin has called his time at Tottenham as a ‘roadblock’ on his career after his failure to secure regular game time at White Hart Lane.

The 22-year-old has made just one senior appearance for Mauricio Pochettino’s side since joining the club from Seattle Sounders in the summer of 2014 after impressing during the USA’s World Cup campaign.

The versatile full-back is spending the 2015/16 season on loan at Sunderland in September to gain more game time and has admitted his spell in north London proved to be an unfamiliar situation.

“From when I started with Seattle all the way through the World Cup, everything had gone pretty smoothly,” he told Sports Illustrated.

“Then there was this roadblock. I’d never experienced that before.

“So it was a time I really had to learn about myself and figure out how to get through it.”

DeAndre Yedlin:  Has made five appearances for Sunderland

Yedlin has made five Premier League starts for the Black Cats this term and is adamant that his time in England has taught him not to dwell on his mistakes. The full-back was at fault for St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ consolation goal as the USA beat them 6-1 earlier this week.

“This is something I’ve learned in England in my time being there,” he added.

“You have to move on from mistakes because if you stick with them it’s going to kill you, especially with fans over there [in England].

“The more mistakes you make you can tell they’ll get on you a little bit. So you have to be mentally strong.

“That’s what I try to do and try to limit the mistakes and get in the attack.”

Yedlin has featured at both right-back and right wing during his career but the USA international favours the defensive role.

“At right back, when you attack you can see the whole field.

“So in the attack it’s a little bit easier, at least for me, but you also have more defensive responsibilities. You have to find that balance.

“In the midfield I’m not the most comfortable playing with my back to the goal and in the midfield you find that ball a lot.

“So I’m working on that so I can become a player who can play both positions well.”