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Ten years back, Barry was playing at a lower division club. Currently, he's dedicated on helping the England manager win the World Cup in the upcoming tournament. The road from player to coach began as an unpaid coach with the youth team. He recalls, “It was in the evenings, third of a pitch, asked to do 11 v 11 … flat balls, not enough bibs,” and he was hooked. He had found his calling.

Rapid Rise

The coach's journey is incredible. Commencing as Paul Cook’s assistant, he developed a name for innovative drills and excellent people skills. His roles at clubs included top European clubs, while also serving in international positions for Ireland, Belgium, and Portugal. His players include stars like Thiago Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Cristiano Ronaldo. Currently, in the England setup, it’s full-time, the “pinnacle” as he describes it.

“Everything starts with a dream … But I’m a believer that passion overcomes challenges. You have the dream and then you plan: ‘How can we achieve it, each day, each phase?’ Our goal is the World Cup. But dreams won’t get it done. We must create a methodical process so we can for optimal success.”

Obsession with Details

Passion, particularly on fine points, characterizes his journey. Working every hour under the sun—sometimes the moon, too, the coaching duo test boundaries. Their methods feature mental assessments, a heat-proof game model for the finals abroad, and building a true team. Barry emphasizes the England collective and dislikes phrases like “international break”.

“This isn't a vacation or a pause,” Barry says. “It was vital to establish a setup where players are eager to join and where they're challenged that it’s a breather.”

Ambitious Trainers

Barry describes himself and Tuchel as highly ambitious. “We want to dominate all parts of the match,” Barry affirms. “We strive to own every metre of the pitch and that's our focus most of our time to. Our responsibility not just to keep up with developments but to surpass them and create our own ones. It's an ongoing effort with a mindset of solving issues. And it’s to make the complex clear.

“We get 50 days with the players ahead of the tournament. We have to play a sophisticated style that offers a strategic upper hand and we have to make it so clear in our 50 days with them. It’s to take it from concept to details to knowledge to execution.

“To build a methodology for effective use in the 50 days, we have to use the entire 500 days we'll have from when we started. During periods without the team, we have to build relationships with each player. It's essential to invest time on the phone with them, we need to watch them play, understand them, connect with them. Relying only on those 50 days, we have no chance.”

World Cup Qualifiers

Barry is preparing for the final pair for the World Cup preliminaries – facing Serbia at home and Albania in Tirana. They've already ensured their place at the finals by winning all six games without conceding a goal. But there will be no easing off; quite the opposite. Now is the moment to strengthen the squad's character, to maintain progress.

“Thomas and I are both pretty clear that the style of play ought to embody the best aspects from the top division,” he comments. “The fitness, the flexibility, the robustness, the integrity. The England jersey should be harder than ever to get yet easy to carry. It should feel like a cape and not body armour.

“To ensure it's effortless, we have to give them a style that allows them to play freely as they do in club games, that connects with them and encourages attacking play. They should overthink less and more in doing.

“There are morale boosts you can get as a coach in the first and final thirds – building from the defense, attacking high up. Yet, in the central zone in that part of the ground, we feel the game has become stuck, notably in domestic leagues. All teams are well-prepared now. They can organize – structured defenses. We are focusing to speed up play in that central area.”

Thirst for Improvement

His desire for improvement is relentless. When he studied for the Uefa pro licence, he was worried about the presentation, as his cohort included stars such as Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick. For self-improvement, he sought out tough situations he could find to practise giving them. Including a prison locally, and he trained detainees during an exercise.

Barry graduated in 2020 at the top of the class, and his dissertation – about dead-ball situations, where he studied 16,154 throw-ins – was published. Frank was one of those won over and he recruited the coach to his team at Chelsea. When Lampard was sacked, it said plenty that the team dismissed virtually all of his coaches while keeping Barry.

His replacement at Chelsea became Tuchel, and shortly after, they claimed the Champions League. When Tuchel was dismissed, Barry remained with Potter. However, when Tuchel returned at Munich, he brought Barry over away from London and back alongside him. English football's governing body view them as a partnership akin to Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland.

“Thomas is unique {in terms of personality and methodology|in character and approach|