£20m Leeds United exit opens up on feeling 'irrelevant' during relegation fight and bizarre injury cause — YEP 22/3/24
The former Leeds United player has endured a torrid time with injuries.
By Kyle Newbould
Tyler Adams admits he 'fell off a cliff' during an
injury-plagued year in which he experienced the disappointment of relegation
with Leeds United.
Adams missed the final 12 matches of last season, following
surgery on a serious hamstring injury last March. The American was helpless on
the sidelines as Leeds failed to win any of their final nine games before
eventually dropping down to the Championship.
Adams was one of several to force a move away from Elland
Road due to a release clause in his contract, with the midfielder joining
Bournemouth for £20million in August. He arrived on the south coast injured and
required surgery again in October, only returning off the bench against Luton
Town last week.
“You learn a lot about yourself in those tough moments
because in those moments there's no headlines about you,” Adams told reporters
ahead of the USMNT’s friendly against Jamaica. “There's no people talking about
you anymore.
“All of a sudden you fall off a cliff and you’re kind of
irrelevant in that moment. But for me I kind of enjoyed that, if I’m being
completely honest with you, after such a whirlwind of a season, after the World
Cup, after everything, my world kind of flipped upside down for a brief moment.
And being injured I just had a moment to regroup.”
Adams had been one of Leeds' most consistent performers last
season, starting all but three of the Premier League matches that came before
his injury. It was in the build-up to the 4-2 win over Wolves that the injury
first surfaced and the former Whites man revealed it was while trying to
backheel a ball in training.
“Doesn't really happen that you end up rupturing your
hamstring in that way,” he added of the unfortunate incident. “Then I had
surgery maybe a week later. Injured it eight weeks in, again passing the ball,
which doesn't happen frequently. Waited 12 weeks again. Did it again, passing
the ball, then had another operation and then now here we are.”
