‘I’ve been pretty boring lately’ – Former New York Red Bulls star John Tolkin finds stability at Holstein Kiel and pushes for a USMNT World Cup place

Much of 2025 has been a whirlwind for Tolkin. Shortly after joining the USMNT for January camp, he was whisked away to Germany to complete a big European move to Holstein Kiel from the New York Red Bulls. He wasn’t able to save the club from relegation, but he still earned a late call to the USMNT’s Gold Cup squad. Then it was straight back to Kiel for preseason, taking just four days off after the tournament.

“It was hard,” he says, “but that’s what it is, right? … I kick a ball for a living, you know?”

Getting back quickly also had its benefits, allowing him to begin the most important process: making Germany feel like home.

“It’s good now,” he says. “I met a neighbor the other day – he’s a Kiel fan. He and his wife were lovely. I’ve joined a golf club, too. Me and my teammates all belong to this club, and on off days we’ll go play. I’m not gonna lie: I’m cooking these fools out there. That’s been a fun one.”

Over the last few months, those simple comforts have helped Kiel start to feel like his own. It’s not a small city – about 250,000 people – but it’s a far cry from the New York and New Jersey metro area where he grew up and made his name in MLS. Now that he’s settled, Tolkin has embraced it.

That wasn’t always a given. Transfer rumors swirled after the club’s relegation, and there were real questions about whether he would stay. But Tolkin ultimately remained, giving him the chance to continue the journey – both the club’s and his own.

“I was freaking out the other day,” he says with a laugh. “I was on the phone and said I was going to fly back home after [USMNT] camp, and they were like, ‘You’re going to New Jersey?!’ Nope – I meant Kiel. I guess it does feel like home. Naturally, it took a few months to settle into it.”

He said his family is flying in from New Jersey for Thanksgiving, and added that spending more time with his teammates this season – a tight locker room with “a lot of cool guys,” as he put it – has helped Kiel start to feel like home.

What matters now is how that translates onto the pitch. Kiel have struggled to establish upward momentum, sitting closer to the relegation zone than the promotion race, but Tolkin’s individual performances have stood out in his first full season in Germany.

Tolkin was thrown into the deep end last season, joining a club experiencing its first, and now only, year in the Bundesliga. Survival was always going to be difficult given the quality of the league, and Kiel eventually finished 17th.

“I think last year, a lot of teams had more possession than us, and we would look to counter a lot,” Tolkin says. “This season, especially at home, we’ve had a lot of the ball, and I like having a lot of the ball. It’s been nice – more possession, more fluidity. Teams also respect us because we’re coming from the first division. It’s good and bad, but the possession and control have been nice.”

Tolkin has taken advantage. He scored his first goal of the season on Aug. 17 in a DFB-Pokal win over Homburg, followed a week later by another against Greuther Fürth. He then provided an assist against Hannover and added another in late September against Karlsruher. Defensively, he has been just as effective: the 23-year-old currently ranks fifth in the 2. Bundesliga in interceptions.

There is an asterisk – it is still a second division. But anyone familiar with the 2. Bundesliga knows it is a unique environment: one that may lack the top-to-bottom polish of the Bundesliga but matches its passion and often exceeds it in intensity.

“It’s a grind, man. It’s like a f***ing war,” he says. “Maybe the technical ability isn’t the same as the first league, but in terms of intensity and guys laying themselves on the line? It’s a different level.”

He points to a recent match: a 1-0 win at Schalke, one of German soccer’s most famous teams.

“When we went there, it was like, ‘Oh my God, this is the second division? This doesn’t seem right.’ The fans, the stadiums, the atmospheres – they’re as good as the first division.”

The grind of the 2. Bundesliga also prepared Tolkin for a USMNT return. Called back into the team in November, Tolkin was handed a massive chance in one of the final pre-World Cup camps. He seized it by putting in his best USMNT shift yet.

Tolkin’s showing against Uruguay was, admittedly, easy to overlook – understandable given the nature of the match. The USMNT ran away as 5-1 winners, overwhelming Uruguay with a barrage of goals in a comprehensive team display.

Starting as the left wingback, Tolkin played his part. He logged 75 minutes, completed 17 of 20 passes, drew two fouls, created a chance, and completed two crosses into the final third. Defensively, he stuffed the stat sheet with two interceptions, a tackle, and several clearances. Most notably, he was never dribbled past.

Tolkin isn’t the only one coming into his own; the USMNT is, too. The growth traces back to the Gold Cup, which Mauricio Pochettino has called a turning point. Tolkin featured four times in that tournament and says the group rediscovered its competitive edge.

“The team showed that we do care and that we want to win,” he says. “Maybe it’s not pretty all the time, but the passion is there.”

The U.S. showed a bit of that fight against Paraguay with a late scuffle, which players pointed to as a positive sign.

“A lot of these teams around the world use that stuff to their advantage, so when you can level it out, that’s good,” he says. “Now, I’m not promoting real fighting, but, hey, if you need to defend yourself? I’m all for that.”

A new fight is beginning now, one within the USMNT, and Tolkin is right in the middle of it.

With the World Cup approaching, Tolkin sits on the fringes of the USMNT picture. He hasn’t been a regular starter – three of his four Gold Cup appearances came off the bench – but his showing against Uruguay offered a timely reminder of his value. Whether a strong run with Kiel can keep him in the conversation remains to be seen.

“It’s close, but it’s in what, six months? It’s still a lot of time, and you can’t really think about it,” he says. “Maybe it’s in the back of your mind, but you have to focus on how you perform every day. You can’t get to the end without the before.”

For now, his focus is on helping Kiel climb the table.

“I think the team is a little inexperienced, but we’re hungry,” he says. “There are a lot of quality players, and I think in the second half of the season you’ll see a serious push. Personally, it’s been alright, but I think we need more goals. If I can help with that, great.”

The path is straightforward: keep his head down, train, grind, and let the results follow. It may feel a bit boring now – at least until everything takes off. For the moment, Tolkin is embracing a rare stretch of calm, even as he looks ahead to what may come next.