I took my opportunity when I was given – RB Leipzig’s Tyler Adams

RB Leipzig and American midfielder has said his development and progress under Julian Nagelsmann was due to taking his chances when called upon.

Adams Joined RB Leipzig from New York Red Bulls in 2019 but took time before making impact due to injury  but has been a regular this season with over 20 appearances.

“Obviously when I came to the club I picked up an injury and that kept me out for quite a bit of time. So it’s taken me longer than I expected to find my form, but I’ve had to be patient,” the American said at a Champions League press conference, quoted by Bundesliga.

“When I was given my opportunity, I was just able to take it. Now playing with confidence is obviously a very important thing, especially in such a quality side. We have so many quality players and on any given day we can change the line-up, change the personnel, and still be effective.

“So the fact that I’m able to have an influence on the team is obviously important, and I want to keep in that good form.”

Leipzig are out of the Champions League after losing 4-0 on aggregate to Liverpool but are on Bayern’s heels in the Bundesliga two points behind and with the best defensive record.

Adams believes more understanding and adaptation to Nagelsmann’s philosophy has helped them be a much versatile squad that outlays opponents.

“When Julian first came we were ironing out the details of the philosophy that he wanted to bring to the club.

“I think that this year you’re seeing more clearly the versatility that we have in our team now and the different styles of play that we can play depending on the opponent, which I think in the beginning we weren’t quite able to do yet.

“When I first came to the club it was more just against the ball [that Leipzig focused on]. This year we’ve added so much possession-based play to our game and we’re able to outplay opponents a lot of times.”

Leipzig lost star man Timo Werner to Chelsea in the summer and towering defender Dayot Upamecano has also agreed to join Bayern Munich at the end of the season. Nagelsmann has been linked with multiple jobs in the last months including Barcelona, Real Madrid and the vacant Germany job.

Image credit – Bundesliga