TRINIDAD and Tobago winger Ryan Telfer is carefully adjusting to his new environment after making the switch to Columbus Crew 2 on a Major League Soccer (MLS) NEXT Pro professional contract last month.
Telfer joined 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 Trinidad last month but is keeping a keen eye on TT's upcoming Concacaf Nations League assignment which begins away to Nicaragua on June 3.
Telfer recently spoke to TTFA media officer Shaun Fuentes about the past few weeks at Crew 2 since he completed the move. He is however, still recovering from the injury and has placed full emphasis on a swift return to competition.
'It's always 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,' he said.
Reflecting on the last coming together of the national team in March - a 1-1 international friendly result against Guyana - Telfer confirmed that team chemistry and identity were, and continue to be, some of the major focal points for the national squad.
'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,' he added.
TT's senior team is currently preparing for the start of the Concacaf Nations League. They have been drawn into Group C alongside Nicaragua, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Bahamas.
The Soca Warriors open their account against the Central Americans in Managua on June 3. They then host Bahamas at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on June 6, before traveling to St Vincent/Grenadines to play on June 10. Three days later, TT host the Vincentians at the same venue. On TT's Nations League draw, Telfer affirmed it will be no easy task.
'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 TT 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.
'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
