Assistant coach is using psychological, tactical and physical profiling to help Thomas Tuchel give his England team an edge at the World Cup
T
en years ago, life looked a little different for Anthony Barry. The England assistant coach, whose focus is fixed on helping Thomas Tuchel win the World Cup next summer – nothing less – was playing for Accrington Stanley in League Two. He was in the twilight of a career spent in the bottom two divisions of the Football League and in non-league, and he had taken the first step on the journey that would define him, accepting a voluntary position as the Accrington Under-16s coach.
“It was in the evenings, third of a pitch, asked to do 11 v 11 … flat balls, not enough bibs,” Barry says with a smile. “I was hooked. I’d found what I was destined to do and I thought about what it could become. I’m pretty sure nobody else could see it. But that’s part of dreams.”
Barry’s ascent has been staggering. His reputation for sharp and innovative drills, for excellent people skills, was established in his first senior position as Paul Cook’s assistant at Wigan and it is impossible not to see the dream-like quality to it all. The progression at club level to Chelsea and Bayern Munich. The part-time international roles on the staff with the Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Portugal. How about some of the players he has worked with? Thiago Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Cristiano Ronaldo. And now it is England; full-time, totally immersive. The “pinnacle”, as he calls it.
