The Newcastle defender says that he had a tough time upon moving to Tottenham, but those hardships have been beneficial for his career
Newcastle defender DeAndre Yedlin says that his first few months in the Premier League left him depressed as he admitted that there were times where he wanted to jump right back to MLS.
The U.S. men’s national team defender initially moved to Tottenham in 2015 after breaking out on the international stage at the World Cup in 2014.
Prior to that point, Yedlin had been playing for his hometown Seattle Sounders, emerging as an MLS All-Star in 2013 and 2014.
He played just one match for Tottenham before the club loaned him to Sunderland, where he was instantly thrown into a relegation battle as the club began its free-fall through the English system.
During those first few months in England, Yedlin felt feelings of regret as the full back says he struggled to adapt to life in England on and off the field.
“It was actually quite tough for me in the beginning,” he told ESPN . “There were times when I was like ‘this is too much,’ the jump from MLS to here in all aspects of it, not just the football aspect.
“I remember being in my apartment thinking like, ‘I can’t do this, I want to go back.’
“That just goes to show that money is not everything because I was much happier making whatever I was making at MLS – which was much less than what I was making at Tottenham – but because life wasn’t giving me what I needed, I was depressed. It was a very tough first six months for me.”
In the years since, Yedlin has become a regular at Newcastle, helping the club jump from the Championship back up to the Premier League after winning the title in his first season in the English second division.
Yedlin joined the club in 2016 and has since gone on to make 109 total appearances across the top two flights in England.
With the Premier Leauge suspended due to the coronavirus, Newcastle currently sit 13th in the league, eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Yet, throughout Yedlin’s time abroad, he’s experienced the stresses of promotion and relegation, and the defender says that those feelings and that system would be beneficial for MLS
“There’s a different energy to when you win/lose a game in MLS to when you win/lose here. It’s that feeling that here, every game matters,” Yedlin said. “Kids here are growing up knowing about relegation and how important it is and things like that. There, there’s just not that feel for it yet.
“If that got introduced, the league would be much more competitive. Something needs to be done to take the league more seriously, and I think that would be good.”
Yedlin has gone on to earn 62 total caps for the U.S. men’s national team and, with the team focusing heavily on youth since missing the 2018 World Cup, the 26-year-old defender is counted among the veterans still active in the player pool.
In recent years, a number of the USMNT‘s top stars have found their way to Europe at a younger age, with players like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKinnie, Giovani Reyna, Josh Sargent and Tyler Adams all playing abroad.
Yedlin says that the decision to head to Europe at a young age is, ultimately, beneficial for a player, even if those first few weeks and months are the most difficult he’s ever faced.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself and I think I’ve learned things about myself that I definitely wouldn’t have learnt if I wouldn’t have come over here,” he said. “Hopefully we can all lead this charge of American players coming over here. As of right now, this is the best place to develop.”
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