DeAndre Yedlin praises Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce

Last season was an important one for DeAndre Yedlin. The national team fullback was on loan with Sunderland, fighting through set backs and adjustment struggles to ultimately impress during the Black Cats' escape from relegation.

Yedlin told Steve Brown of Chronicle Live that Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce is a big reason for his game's improvement:

"I have to give a lot of credit to Big Sam, the manager," [Yedlin] said. "I don’t know what it was, but he made something click in my head. Maybe it’s his defensive approach to playing. Every Thursday every defender would do strictly defensive drills, no attacking at all. And we hated it, because it’s not the most fun thing to do, but at the end of the day it helps. And you could see towards the end of the season, the last 11, 12 games, we became a lot stronger as a defensive unit."

Some players spend their entire careers searching for a manager who is a good fit. It appears that Yedlin found one at the tender age of 22.

Although Yedlin is currently in the middle of a long-term deal with Tottenham, he could find himself back with Sunderland on a more permanent basis. There was a rumor floating around that Sunderland made an offer to keep him.

It's doubtful that Yedlin will feature for Tottenham next season (he'd be third or fourth on the right back depth chart), but perhaps they want to hold onto him for now. In that case, he'd go on loan again (possibly to Sunderland, possibly not).

If you're a fan of the U.S. men's national team, it doesn't matter what club he's at during the 2016-2017 season as long as he's getting minutes.

Should Yedlin stick with Sam Allardyce and Sunderland or should he fight for a place at Tottenham? Let us know in the comment section.