ANTHONY BARRY once studied every throw-in taken in the 2018-19 Prem season for his Pro-Licence dissertation.
That is a staggering total of 16,380… so no wonder it took him 60 HOURS!
But it shows his incredible depth of analysis that helped propel him from lower-league journeyman to Thomas Tuchel’s No 2 with England.
Barry’s study – titled The Undervalued Set-Piece – was part of the 2020 course that also included Prem legends Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and Kolo Toure.
The Liverpudlian was the youngest participant in the group at just 33 but he left his mark on the household names.
So much so that Lampard took Barry, now 38, from Wigan to Chelsea as one of his backroom team in 2020.
Barry was then inherited by Tuchel when he replaced Lampard in January 2021.
Tuchel is clearly a huge fan, taking him to Bayern Munich last year – when they paid Chelsea £1million in compensation.
Now they have made it the hat-trick with England, who were today proclaiming his appointment as the Englishman at the right hand of the German Tuchel.
Barry hails Tuchel as a ‘genius’ and in interviews has referenced how his mentor focuses on behaviour as much as patterns of play and use of space.
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Last season was not their finest with Bayern failing to win the Bundesliga but now they are back.
This is Tuchel’s first job in international football but not Barry’s – he has also worked for both Belgium and Portugal under Roberto Martinez.
The Spaniard spent much of his playing career in the English lower leagues and perhaps that is where his admiration of Barry stems from.
His CV certainly screams ‘journeyman’.
After being released by Everton as a teenager and then failing to make the grade at Coventry, midfielder Barry had stints at Accrington Stanley, Yeovil, Chester, Wrexham, Fleetwood and Forest Green Rovers.
Barry can at least claim to have played in a major Wembley match – Yeovil’s 2-0 defeat by Blackpool in the 2007 League One play-off final.
He began his senior career at Stanley and played a big part in the climb out of the Conference and back into the Football League in 2006.
Barry later returned at Accrington for another stint and left his mark on owner Andy Holt.
He told SunSport: “It’s fantastic to think that one of our old players is going to be helping England’s bid for the 2026 World Cup.
“True enough, the new head coach is German but his assistant cut his teeth as a player up here in Lancashire, English through and through.
“It would be wonderful to think that Barry could help the Three Lions to glory.
“Everything I knew about him when he was with us, and everything I’ve learned about him since as a coach says he really deserves to have this opportunity.
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ANDY DILLON: Thomas Tuchel has all the ingredients to become a classic England manager – tactical nous, drive and a tangled love life
By Andy Dillon
THOMAS TUCHEL possesses all the ingredients to become a classic England manager.
Tactical nous, drive, energy, experience – a tangled love life.
English football should welcome back the most explosive, dynamic, charismatic and impossibly tall and gangly coach to have lit up the Premier League.
Chelsea’s colourful former boss has been leading a settled life in Munich of late.
Far enough away from ex-wife Sissi but close enough to see his two daughters.
Walking his dog in the streets in the east of Germany’s most fashionable city, residing in the posh Bogenhausen area. Living relatively quietly with his Brazilian girlfriend.
Tuchel is a vastly different personality to the man who led England quietly but assuredly to the brink of World Cups and European Championships.
An excitable nature can make him hard to handle for those seeking calm and who like to impose their way on a manager they view very much as an underling.
Read more on why Tuchel REALLY IS the best man for the England job
“Anthony came back to us from his travels on loan at first in 2015 just as I was talking over and he was a big influence.
“He was always a deep thinker about the game but he was always a hard worker too.
“Anthony’s come from the wrong side of the tracks, if you like, but having to graft the way all players did back in our Conference days or when we got back into League Two has stood him in good stead.
“Some people are complaining that the FA haven’t brought in an Englishman. But here we are, little old Stanley, having helped Anthony to reach these heights.
“This proves that the English pyramid does work and it’s a fantastic compliment to us that Anthony started out here.
“I followed his career as a coach, especially, and nobody I speak to tells me that he hasn’t deserved what he’s achieved so far.
“It’s brilliant that someone who helped Stanley to history when we came back up into the Football League might now help England to new history and another World Cup triumph.
“It’s a really proud day for us up here, thinking of someone who started out in our little corner of England and has risen so far.
“For those who don’t know I can tell them this – there isn’t a harder worker or a more committed, intelligent coach than our Anthony.”
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