The remarkable rise of Tuchel's English assistant

Media caption,

I'm the yin to his yang - Barry on Tuchel

Ten years ago he was a lower-league footballer nearing the end of his career and starting work as a coach at Accrington Stanley.

Now, Anthony Barry is preparing to head to the World Cup as Thomas Tuchel's assistant - the only Englishman in the core backroom coaching team.

For a 39-year-old, he has an incredible CV as an elite coach with prior experience at Chelsea, Bayern Munich and the Portugal and Belgium national teams.

It is one of the most remarkable rises in football.

Liverpool-born Barry describes himself as the yin to Tuchel's yang and acknowledges their partnership can "look a bit strange at times" because of their difference in height and background.

"It's little and large from the outside," he says, with an infectious smile that barely leaves his face during a 10-minute interview with BBC Sport.

Barry's journey to working with Tuchel

Barry's first coaching job after retiring as a player was as assistant manager at Wigan, but after impressing Frank Lampard on the Uefa Pro Licence course, he became first-team coach at Chelsea in the summer of 2020.

When Lampard was sacked in January 2021, Tuchel replaced him, retained Barry, and within months had won the Champions League.

During that time Barry had also spread his wings into international football - working as an assistant coach of the Republic of Ireland before taking the same role under Roberto Martinez - first with Belgium, then Portugal.

That has allowed him to coach at a World Cup and European Championship, while also working with global greats including Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin de Bruyne.

Barry was reunited with Tuchel when the latter took him to Bayern Munich in 2023.

"It's a relationship that has grown along the way," said Barry. "In a working capacity - and then in a social way - we became closer and closer.

"We spend a lot of time together speaking, working, fighting, building teams - but he's a person and a character I admire and I'm in awe of."

Barry is the only English coach in Tuchel's core support staff. He, along with Henrique Hilario, Nico Mayer and James Melbourne, has joined Tuchel in signing a new contract until 2028.

Justin Cochrane, another highly rated English coach within the FA who was until recently part of the Tottenham back room team, is part of the wider staff and joins the group during international breaks.

Known as an innovative and enthusiastic coach, Barry also specialises in set-pieces. A former midfielder, he wrote a dissertation as part of his Pro Licence for which he analysed 17,000 throw-ins.

But he does not buy into the narrative that set-pieces will be more important than ever at a World Cup that will feature drinks breaks - effectively splitting the game into quarters.

"I'm not sure it will have a bigger part to play," he said. "I think set-pieces have always been huge.

"I just think, right now, it's really a trend - it's really spoken about in social media. It's almost become football plus set-pieces, but that's not how Thomas and I see it.

"I think all of the great teams have always been good as set-pieces. I just think now it has a lot bigger spotlight on it. People speak about it as if it has more importance, but for us it's always been a huge part of the game and will be in the US."

Image caption,

Barry has worked with Tuchel at Chelsea, Bayern Munich and now England

'The petrol in the car is team spirit'

Tuchel has been clear he wants to bring a club feel to the national team - and it is something Barry believes is vital.

"We want it to feel like home," he said. "We want to build a brotherhood. We want 26 guys to get on the plane and really want to be together in the airports, in the hotels, on the pitch.

"I've always been a believer in international football. The tactics... are part of the game and they're important, but... Thomas and I will get 50 training days with the guys before we arrive in the US.

"How big an impact can we really make on that side? For me, the petrol in the car is the team spirit - it's the connection to each other."

Tuchel and Barry selected a 35-man squad for the recent games against Uruguay and Japan, and are now finalising a 26-man World Cup party, which will be named next month.

Barry says they will take a "meticulous approach" and as well as a player's ability will keep in mind the "social idea" and "psychological idea" as they try to find the right blend for a group that could spend seven or eight weeks together.

"We are constantly speaking about how do we create and cultivate new ways to win football matches but also build a squad that we're proud of and that the fans are proud of as well," he said.

Does style matter?

During his time as England manager, Tuchel has looked to make the most of the physicality of the football played in the Premier League.

But high temperatures in the US this summer mean teams may have to adapt their approaches.

"It will certainly be a challenge," said Barry. "It's an extra hurdle we have to overcome.

"I'm sure the heat will impact the product of the football on the pitch. It's not really a fantastic environment to produce elite football - especially at the end of a long season - but there will be no excuses.

"We know the heat is there. We have time to prepare for it. We will arrive early in the US for the players to acclimatise and become as ready as they can be.

"We have to beat the opponent, we have to beat the heat."

Domestically, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have been criticised for their approach as they have opened a nine-point lead in the Premier League.

Asked if style of play matters when you win, Barry said: "I'm completely in awe of Arsenal and what they are doing and what Mikel has built there. The team they have, the personality they have in the group, the way they play this year... I think they've been fantastic.

"So anybody who speaks ill of them or speaks about them in a negative way, I certainly wouldn't agree with.

"We want to win the tournament. We want to do it our way, and I think the more belief you have in your own way of working, the players feel that."

'We know what the mission is'

Barry and Tuchel travelled to the US last summer to watch the Club World Cup.

They spent time looking at potential training bases, facilities, and even how the ball moved on the grass - and took confidence from Chelsea's victory.

"That's the main point," said Barry. "That an English team can win there - that they can go out after a long Premier League season and be successful, playing against the best teams in Europe and from South America."

Barry knows he and Tuchel - a proven winner at elite level - will be judged on whether or not England win the World Cup.

"We know what the mission is," he said. "We know why Thomas and I took the job. We absolutely want to try and win the World Cup.

"We want everybody to have the best six weeks of their life and that's how we will pitch it to the players, pitch it to the staff... let's really go out there and make memories together."