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In the past, Anthony Barry featured for Accrington Stanley. Currently, he's dedicated on helping the head coach win the World Cup in 2026. His path from athlete to trainer commenced with a voluntary role coaching youngsters. He remembers, “It was in the evenings, third of a pitch, asked to do 11 v 11 … flat balls, not enough bibs,” and he fell in love with it. He had found his purpose.

Staggering Ascent

The coach's journey stands out. Beginning as Paul Cook’s assistant, he established a standing through unique exercises and excellent people skills. His roles at clubs led him to Chelsea and Bayern Munich, while also serving in coaching jobs abroad for Ireland, Belgium, and Portugal. He has worked with legends including Thiago Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Cristiano Ronaldo. Now, with England, it's all-consuming, the peak according to him.

“All begins with a vision … Yet I'm convinced that obsession can move mountains. You envision the goal but then you bring it down: ‘How can we achieve it, gradually?’ We dream about winning the World Cup. However, vision doesn't suffice. We must create a structured plan so we can for optimal success.”

Obsession with Details

Dedication, focusing on tiny aspects, characterizes his journey. Working every hour under the sun—sometimes the moon, too, the coaching duo push hard at comfort zones. Their strategies include player analysis, a strategy for high temperatures for the finals abroad, and building a true team. Barry emphasizes the national team spirit and dislikes phrases including "pause".

“It's not time off or a break,” Barry says. “We had to build something that the players want to be part of and where they're challenged that returning to club duty feels easier.”

Ambitious Trainers

The assistant coach says along with the manager as “very greedy”. “We want to dominate every aspect of the game,” Barry affirms. “We want to conquer the whole ground and we dedicate most of our time to. It’s our job not just to keep up with developments but to beat them and innovate. It’s a constant process focused on finding solutions. And it’s to make the complex clear.

“We have 50 days with the players ahead of the tournament. We need to execute a complex game that gives us a tactical advantage and we have to make it so clear during that time. We need to progress from concept to details to understanding to action.

“To create a system enabling productivity in that window, we have to use the entire 500 days we'll have after our appointment. In the time we don’t have the players, we need to foster connections among them. We must dedicate moments in calls with players, observing them live, feel them, touch them. If we limit ourselves to that time, we have no chance.”

Upcoming Matches

He is getting ready ahead of the concluding matches for the World Cup preliminaries – facing Serbia at home and in Albania. England have guaranteed a spot in the tournament with six wins out of six and six clean sheets. However, they won't relax; instead. This is the time to strengthen the squad's character, to maintain progress.

“We are both certain that the style of play must reflect all the positives about the Premier League,” he comments. “The physicality, the flexibility, the strength, the integrity. The Three Lions kit needs to be highly competitive but comfortable to have on. It ought to be like a superhero's cape instead of heavy armour.

“For it to feel easy, we have to give them a system that lets them to play freely as they do in club games, that resonates with them and lets them release restrictions. They must be stuck less in thinking and increase execution.

“There are emotional wins available to trainers at both ends of the pitch – starting moves deep, attacking high up. But in the middle area of the pitch, those 24 metres, we believe play has stagnated, notably in domestic leagues. Coaches have extensive data currently. They understand tactics – defensive shapes. Our aim is to focus on accelerating the game through midfield.”

Passion for Progress

Barry’s hunger to get better is all-consuming. When he studied for the Uefa pro licence, he had concerns about the presentation, since his group featured big names including former players. So, to build his skill set, he sought out difficult settings he could find to practise giving them. Such as Walton jail in his home city of Liverpool, and he trained detainees during an exercise.

He completed the course in 2020 at the top of the class, with his thesis – about dead-ball situations, for which he analysed numerous set-plays – became a published work. Lampard included impressed and he recruited the coach as part of his backroom with the Blues. After Lampard's dismissal, it was telling that the club got rid of most of his staff but not Barry.

His replacement with the club was Tuchel, within months, they secured European glory. When Tuchel was dismissed, Barry stayed on with Potter. But when Tuchel re-emerged with Bayern, he brought Barry over from Chelsea and back alongside him. English football's governing body see them as a double act similar to Southgate and Holland.

“I haven't encountered anyone like him {in terms of personality and methodology|in character and approach|