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" It has been really busy but very pleasing at the same time to finally come up here and meet everybody around the club and my new team-mates as well, and my first day of training today.
" I am in a hotel at the moment but I am going to be moving into an apartment here shortly. Carlisle has got a lot of character, obviously I have been in Sheffield for the last five years. Coming up to Carlisle is different but it is only my second day, so I am still getting my bearings.
" I have a place in Sheffield which I will probably hang onto, but I am not a huge fan of travelling so I will probably look to get a place up here in Carlisle or just outside. It does help if you live where the club is but at the same time if people have families it is difficult. I don't have a family as of yet so it makes it a little easier for me I think.
" I found out about Carlisle's interest at the end of last season, obviously I knew Graham Kavanagh from his time at Sheffield Wednesday and he had a word with me then. But I was back home for the whole summer, so my agent over here was filling me in on what was going on.
" I came back to England maybe three or four days ago, met up with the manager (Greg Abbott) and then signed the contract the following day. I had a choice or two out there but I think after meeting with the manager and seeing what he had to say, my mind was made up. The other clubs were of a similar standard but I have no questions about coming here, my mind was made up. "
" I had my injury in the past but it has been probably, knock on wood, over two years since I have been injured. I just haven't been in the team, I haven't been playing, I haven't been picked. So I am looking to come here and get a good pre-season under my belt and hopefully the first game of the season be in the starting eleven.
" I haven't had an injury in the last couple of years so long may it continue. The last one was basically a bad ankle sprain that took a while to get better. I had to have surgery on it but it is in the past, it is not a problem anymore.
" Most importantly my Mum and Dad probably inspired me to be a footballer. Always being there, always taking me to games, it is not easy. I have two other brothers as well but my Mum was always on the run when I was younger driving us here, there and everywhere.
" Also my first coach at Arsenal was Andy McDermott who actually passed away over the summer but he was probably a huge inspiration as well. Because he took me under his wing and was a big reason why I was at Arsenal.
" To be coming through at Arsenal was a real honour because not too many people get to play for Arsenal. But it was hard at the same time, you have got the best players in the world there and they are always bringing players in. I was there from the ages of pretty much 12 to 20 so I had a solid upbringing there. "
" Pre-season is not easy, I think a lot of the guys actually do their own kind of fitness thing over the summer so you don't come back completely out of shape. But it is a five and a half week pre-season so it is a good length and there is plenty of time to get back into shape.
" You need a couple of weeks in the summer just to chill out and not do anything, just forget about football for a little bit. But getting back into the swing of things, the more you do over the summer the easier it is going to be when you come back.
" I have signed a two-year contract and right now I am just looking forward to playing football. I haven't played a lot of football recently and if I can help this club progress and move forward then on a two-year contract you see what happens after two years, so we will see. For me right now at this stage of my career it is about playing football, and I am going to have a chance if I show well in pre-season to do that here, so hopefully I can. "
" I am lucky enough to have had five caps for the United States, that was a few years ago now but I was involved last season in the Holland game. I wasn't involved in the game but I went on the trip. It was the last friendly before the World Cup and we played Holland in Holland in March.
" I was in the squad of 20 but didn't make the 18 for the game. It was tough but I had a bad season last season so I didn't expect to get called in and be playing and be going to the World Cup, it was in the back of my mind but at the same time I was realistic. That's football, it doesn't always work out the way you want, I am 25 now, in four years time who knows?
" We beat Mexico in the Gold Cup and I came on for the last half hour, I think we ended up beating them 2-1 in Chicago. It felt like we were in Mexico with the amount of Mexicans that were at the game. I remember being up on the platform getting my medal and I didn't really know what to do, whether to wave or what to do because I had never won anything before. But we got the medal and I had that framed and it was a good memory.
" My first call-up was in 2007 I think, we had a friendly in Texas against Guatemala and that was my first cap. It was a kind of cliché but I can remember it like it was yesterday. The bus ride to the game, the game, after the game, it was really cool, I still have the shirt framed and it is something that I will never forget.
" I was playing with Sheffield Wednesday at the time and to go into the national team scene is a big difference, the pace of the game is not quite as hectic as the Championship. With the tackles flying in in the Championship and the headers, it is more about possession and keeping the ball, but at the end of the day you are playing football. "
" First and foremost I like to think of myself as a good defender and that base to go off on. I like to get forward as well. I think when I am at my best I am getting forward and running with the ball, and hopefully I can do that for Carlisle this season.
" I was at Sheffield Wednesday for five years and it was a good five years, it kind of petered out at the end there but the Sheffield Wednesday fans have always been brilliant to me from day one really. I have nothing but praise for them but it would be nice to go back there, but I had to move on and the time was right I think.
" There was some sniffs that Premier League clubs were looking before I got injured but nothing ever happened. Then I had my injury and I was out for probably over a year. So right now I am hoping to just get back playing and getting back to that level where I was before that.
" I have scored two goals, in my first two full seasons at Sheffield Wednesday I had two goals. So I would like to think if I played in most of the games then I am good for a goal a season. I haven't taken penalties but I am sure I won't be taking any penalties. "
" It would be hard to pick just one of the toughest opponents I have faced, playing with Sheffield Wednesday you come across good wingers quite often. But I couldn't just pick one I don't think. Nothing really internationally either where I have come off wondering what I have just done there.
" I have heard the name Johann Smith but I don't know him, I don't know Paul Conway either to be fair. It is difficult with getting a work permit in England, you have to either play for your country or be living over here for so long like I did. If it is possible I think Americans would be more than open to the idea of coming over here and playing.
" Most of them will go through the college and you don't graduate college until you are 22. So it is not ideal for football because by the time you are 22 over here you are hopefully with 100 games under your belt. But it is different and it works well for American Football and Basketball, but I am not so sure it works so well for soccer.
" Speaking personally I think I watch players in my position more than the other positions. I look at what the right-back does and how he is playing. But I think most importantly a lot of footballers just want to see a good game of football. But speaking for myself I would watch the right-back more closely than probably any other position.
" I am really excited to be here, I met the manager a few days ago and by talking to him I was getting excited just thinking about playing and getting back and doing my best for Carlisle, and I am really looking forward to the season. "