Destined for the top Barry brings homegrown flavour to national team

For all that turning to a foreigner again is a tacit admission by the Football Association that something is wrong with its homegrown production line, it is at least positive that appointing Thomas Tuchel as England manager means that one of the sharpest young English coaches will be working within the national setup.

- Jacob Steinberg

Those who studied alongside Anthony Barry on the FA's Pro Licence course will not be surprised that Tuchel has asked him to be his No 2. Barry graduated with top marks and his dissertation, The undervalued set piece, for which he and his co-authors analysed 16,380 throw-ins, caught the eye. Frank Lampard, who shared a classroom alongside the Liverpudlian, was impressed enough to ask him to join his staff at Chelsea in 2020.

It was a clever appointment, even though Lampard would not last much longer as head coach. Others at Chelsea appreciated Barry's talent, his eye for detail at defensive and offensive set pieces, and he was kept on when Tuchel was appointed in January 2021.