Top 99 Quotes & Sayings by DeAndre Yedlin

I think every player aspires to challenge themselves against the very best and that's what I'm hoping to do.

For me, I want to win the World Cup. If that's not the goal then I don't think you should be playing.

My grandfather, my grandmother especially, I have a whole family of activists, they've always told me to stand up for what I believe in.

Obviously when you challenge yourself you learn a lot about yourself, and ultimately you're going to get better in whatever field.

I like to attack obviously.

I'm not a practicing Jew but my great-grandparents were. It's part of our family history.

When you're the younger guy, you're kind of only looking after yourself. Obviously you have to be a bit selfish in terms of what you're doing. But when you're the older guy you have to look out for the younger guys as well. If they're making mistakes, they need help, then you help them.

As a young black American you become desensitised to it, it's just like 'oh, another guy, another kid died today.' That's so, so sad cos we are talking about human life, the most sacred thing we have.

It's no secret that I think that MLS is a top five, top six league in the world but they're not the top league.

I love the Premier League. It's obviously a very talented league.

In the Premier League a little half a second can punish you and you just have to be focused for all 90 or 95 minutes, whatever it may be.

I was fortunate to be raised in Seattle, which was amazing, but that doesn't take away from the fact I was still a black kid growing up in America.

Every kid dreams of playing in the Premier League.

Oh, I grew up in Seattle.

Nobody wants to look stupid by celebrating on offside goal.

Usually, when I'm in the 3-5-2, it's at the end of the game, in the 80th minute, where I'm really just attacking.

Klinsmann should be remembered as a great coach; I don't think a lot of people see it, but as players, we really appreciate what he did for America soccer. He opened American soccer up. He gave it a lot more variety of players. You see German-Americans and Mexican-Americans, and you see the guys that were born in America.

Billy Jones, positionally, is unbelievable. He's not the fastest guy but he makes up for it by being positionally sound, so I really tried to focus and absorb where he would be in certain situations and just tried to add that in my game.

I feel like I've improved immensely in terms of my defending, not only in one-versus-ones but also with my positioning.

I think the fact people still don't realise why people are taking a knee and saying 'Black Lives Matter,' people are being so close-minded to the fact that no one is disrespecting the flag, nobody is saying all lives don't matter.

I'm an attacking full-back.

I think in some ways it makes me feel uncomfortable, just getting a bunch of attention. I'd rather just stay chill and kind of lay low.

You can see it with social media and things like that, back in the day it was harder to convince people that the police are wrong, which sounds crazy, but that's how it was back then.

I think I have kind of have the same mind-set that Kanye West has. He just likes to do his thing.

I want to be in the World Cup.

I'm fine with just a simple life.

I want to keep getting better.

I'm maturing as a person and as a player.

As a wing back, when you get the ball wide, you usually don't have any help out wide. You have to be pretty good on your own out there.

First and foremost my obligation is on the defensive side. But obviously there are times when I need to go and attack, too.

Obviously, when you're getting games, you're getting confidence as well.

Every international career is going to come to an end you're going to pass it down to the younger generation. Every career comes to that point.

If you get taken out after 20 minutes it's a big blow to you.

Obviously you have to take it the right way, keep your head down, be humble. But I think if you're in an environment where you're challenging yourself, you're only going to improve. So that's honestly what I tried to do when I went to Europe.

Once you start to become OK at something, you learn to enjoy it more.

If my path is with Tottenham then it's with Tottenham.

It's a league that you really have to get used to. If you're coming from another one, it's a tough league. Getting the experience playing in a Premier League team and getting hopefully consistent games will be huge for me.

The fans just see what's going on on the field, but there's a lot more that goes into it behind the scenes.

I think one of the biggest things is I wasn't spoiled as a kid. I got what I needed. I didn't always get what I wanted. But it's good to have what you need.

Seattle was good for me. I was very comfortable there - not comfortable in terms of it was too easy, but I was at home, I was with my family and friends. It was a great life. I was home. But I think, for me, when I get too comfortable with the lifestyle and everything, I feel that my performances, my focus can go down.

As a player, you love to play in front of a big crowd.

Even when my grandparents compliment me, I don't like when they do that.

There are things you have to look at with those world-class players, but at the end of the day, they're not superheroes. They're still human.

I think if you put a timeframe on things, you can start rushing things and getting away from the goals, so I try to take it day by day and make sure I keep improving.

For me, I can't eat healthy 100 percent of the year. There's obviously those little times where you have to eat something that's not great for you, but you just need comfort food.

I like Daniel Alves, I have him as my inspiration.

I think positionally I've improved. One vs. one I feel more comfortable. I knew that was going to come - obviously that's the kind of thing that comes with experience.

For me, that's the biggest thing, if something holds me back it's my mental game so I really tried to focus on that and just worked on that.

If I had grown earlier, maybe I would have stuck with football. Maybe. But I was just too small. I was quick, I could outrun people, but if anyone ever got a hand on me, I was done.

At fullback you have a little bit more defensive responsibility. You have to help out with your center backs a little bit more. As a wing back, you can be a little bit more aggressive with getting forward.

Life in Newcastle has been a lot more similar to life in Seattle, which has been great. The city is relaxed but, just like Seattle, Newcastle's passion for their team is second to none. You get recognized walking down the street or when you're around town.

I'm really trying to work on my defensive positioning.

When I made the decision to go to Europe, a lot of people questioned it. The first six months I was there even I was questioning it, but I think I learned a lot more about myself in that six months than I have my whole life.

I've always been fast, it's God-given talent. I just try and use that to my advantage, but I'm learning more and more positionally so I don't have to rely on my pace so much.

England and the U.S. definitely have their differences and similarities.

Confidence is a funny thing, and sometimes that's all you need is just that little bit to elevate you to the next level.

There's no amount of money that can make me shut up about something I think is wrong.

Everybody tells me they don't know how I have so much energy, and I think people feed off that, which is great.

The Premier League is one of the top leagues in the world and I'm a guy that likes to challenge myself, so just to be able to practice against those types of players and play against them every weekend is a dream come true.

I want people to know about my story and where I came from.