Who is Anthony Barry? England's 'new level' assistant coach under Thomas Tuchel

Frank Lampard's call four years ago proved to be the pivotal moment in Anthony Barry's football career.

After finishing his UEFA Pro Licence course with Barry, Lampard was so pleased with his work that he wanted him to work in Chelsea's backroom staff. Because of that, Barry was able to work with Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and now England.

It completes a remarkable ascent for the 38-year-old, who freely acknowledges that his Football League playing career was marred by injury and that he did not enjoy it. While playing for Yeovil at the age of 24, Barry dislocated his knee cap. He began earning his coaching badges after it was initially determined that his career was over.

Eventually, after missing 17 months of action, the former midfielder made a comeback, but he knew coaching was his true calling. His first taste of it came when he was 29 and he worked with Accrington Stanley’s Under-16 side.

A year later in 2017, Barry was working alongside Paul Cook at Wigan. At just 30 years of age, he was the youngest first-team coach in the country. Wigan was where Barry first worked with a young Reece James, who was on loan at the club for the 2018–19 season.

After Lampard brought Barry into his backroom team, the two were reunited at Chelsea a year later. Although Barry and Lampard had taken the same UEFA Pro Licence course as Jody Morris, they were not particularly close. But Barry's coaching abilities, especially his work on set pieces, surprised Lampard.

At the conclusion of his Pro Licence, Barry's dissertation project focused on throw-ins. He examined 17,000 throw-ins over the course of a Premier League season, and his meticulousness has made him an expert in set pieces.

Barry's career has taken off since Lampard gave him his big break. Between 2021 and 2022, he combined his work at Chelsea with a year of part-time work with the Republic of Ireland setup.

Although Roberto Martinez had been keeping tabs on Barry's work, Belgium acquired him from the Irish prior to the 2022 World Cup. Barry was with Martinez when he went to Portugal.

As is the case with Tuchel, Martinez, like other coaches, has grown to love Barry's coaching style. When the German replaced Lampard at Chelsea, he kept Barry as part of his coaching team and the pair developed a good relationship.

Not surprisingly, Tuchel worked hard to entice Barry away from Chelsea when he was hired by Bayern last year, and the German team ultimately gave the Blues £1 million in compensation to seal the deal.

“Our relationship is very respectful and friendly,” said Barry, upon being reunited with Tuchel at Bayern.

“I admired Thomas from the first day. We have a lot of parallels – how we work and how we see football. We try to push each other and to improve.

“That allows us to work at a very high level because we can be completely honest with each other. We talk very openly, discuss our ideas and always try to find the best solution.”

Cover Credits - Goal.com