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.
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.
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.
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.
I'm maturing as a person and as a player.
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.
Obviously, when you're getting games, you're getting confidence as well.
I like to attack obviously.
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.
For me, I want to win the World Cup. If that's not the goal then I don't think you should be playing.
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.
Once you start to become OK at something, you learn to enjoy it more.
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.
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.
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.
Obviously when you challenge yourself you learn a lot about yourself, and ultimately you're going to get better in whatever field.
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.
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.
I'm an attacking full-back.
I want to keep getting better.
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.
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.
The fans just see what's going on on the field, but there's a lot more that goes into it behind the scenes.
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.
I'm really trying to work on my defensive positioning.
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.
Every kid dreams of playing in the Premier League.
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.
If you get taken out after 20 minutes it's a big blow to you.
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.
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 love the Premier League. It's obviously a very talented league.
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.
Nobody wants to look stupid by celebrating on offside goal.
I want people to know about my story and where I came from.
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.
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.
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.
England and the U.S. definitely have their differences and similarities.
Everybody tells me they don't know how I have so much energy, and I think people feed off that, which is great.
Oh, I grew up in Seattle.
As a player, you love to play in front of a big crowd.
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.
If my path is with Tottenham then it's with Tottenham.
I feel like I've improved immensely in terms of my defending, not only in one-versus-ones but also with my positioning.
First and foremost my obligation is on the defensive side. But obviously there are times when I need to go and attack, too.
Even when my grandparents compliment me, I don't like when they do that.
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.