Telfer settling at Columbus
TELFER SETTLING AT COLUMBUS, KEEPS SIGHTS ON NATIONS LEAGUE CAMPAIGN
Trinidad and Tobago winger Ryan Telfer is slowly adjusting to his new environment after making the switch to Columbus Crew 2 on an MLS NEXT Pro professional contract last month.
Telfer joins Crew 2 after spending the 2021 season with Atletico Ottawa of the Canadian Premier League. The former Toronto FC player is currently recovering from an injury sustained in the 1-1 draw with Guyana in the Courts Caribbean Classic fixture in Port of Spain last month but is keeping a keen eye on T&T’s upcoming Concacaf Nations League assignment which begins away to Nicaragua on June 3.
We caught up with him today.
Q: Ryan, can you tell us about the past few weeks at your new club since you completed the recent move.
RT: It as been a quiet few weeks since my move here. I have been recovering from an injury since the Guyana friendly so I’m focusing on being able to get back on the field. This has been my main priority.
Q: What is it like at the new club? New environment, teammates, new city.
RT: It’s lways great to embrace a new club, environment and city. I have been welcomed with open arms into this organization and it’s been excellent so far. The club and its facilities with its staff are world class. It’s great having a mixture of new and old teammates on the team and it’s been going pretty well under the new coaching staff here. I haven’t been able to explore Columbus yet but I’ll be able to soon once the summer months arrive.
Q: Reflecting on the last coming together of the national team, what were the major points for you? Team spirit, fight, other aspects on and off the pitch.
RT: Team chemistry and identity are some of the major points that we have been working on together as a team. With every camp, we’ve been improving as a group in the way we play and carry about ourselves on the field. We want to be that team that is stubborn to play against while being able to express ourselves out there. We’ve also never had all our players available for selection so I look forward to that moment when it happens.
Q:What are your thoughts on the draw for the Nations League? How do you assess the Group?
RT: The Concacaf Nations League is gonna be an exciting one for us. There are teams who have been improving their football pedigree as well as our so called ‘jumbie’ team that caused a wreck in our World Cup hopes (Bahamas). Either way, it has been engraved in us that we don’t cater or care who we play, our job is to bring Trinidad and Tobago football back to where it belongs. With that being said these aren’t easy games and there is no such thing as an easy team in international football so the focus will be on us and how we want to establish ourselves out there.
Q: Talk about the importance of us starting the campaign well in June with sights set on automatic qualification for Gold Cup 2023.
RT: It’s very important to start well in any competition that you are in. Being able to get those first set of points can pave the way for the rest of the group stage. We want to be that team that determines their own fate at the end of it all.
Q: How much are you anticipating June and the four matches back to back?
RT: As the international break slowly approaches, it’s something I always look forward to as a national team player. And especially under these new circumstances under the Nations League banner, these matches are worth something and it makes it much more exhilarating to be a part of it. Hopefully I’m fit enough to participate.
TTFA Media: Thanks for the time Ryan. Hope to see you again soon.
T&T will face Nicaragua in Managua on Friday June 3 in its opening CNL fixture. They then host Bahamas at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on June 6 before traveling to St Vincent/Grenadines to play on June 10th before hosting the Vincentians in Port of Spain on June 13th.
