It was a call from Frank Lampard four years ago that turned out to be the turning point for Anthony Barry’s career in football.
Lampard had completed his UEFA Pro Licence course with Barry and was so impressed by his work that he wanted him on his backroom staff at Chelsea.
That set Barry on a path that led to him working with Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea, Bayern Munich and now England.
It completes a remarkable rise for the 38-year-old, who openly admits he did not enjoy a playing career that was spent playing in the Football League and was blighted by injury.
Barry dislocated his knee cap when he was 24 and playing for Yeovil. The initial diagnosis was that his career was over and he started doing his coaching badges.
The former midfielder did eventually return to action after 17 months out, but it was clear to him that his passion lay in coaching. His first taste of it came when he was 29 and he worked with Accrington Stanley’s Under-16 side.
“I remember that first session so clearly,” Barry told the Essential Euros podcast this summer.
“It was on a Tuesday night. It was with around 10 players. I had a third of a pitch, not enough balls, not enough bibs - but I simply fell in love with coaching.”
A year later in 2017, Barry was working alongside Paul Cook at Wigan. At just 30 years of age, he was the youngest first-team coach in the country.
“It was a little bit of luck that came my way that a manager had spotted me working in academy football and out on courses,” admits Barry. “He gave me the headstart that allowed me to grow a career from a young age.”
Barry blossomed at Wigan and it was there that he first worked with a young Reece James, who spent the 2018-19 season on loan at the club.
Fast forward 12 months and the pair were reunited at Chelsea after Lampard brought Barry into his backroom team.
Barry and Lampard had studied together on their UEFA Pro Licence course, along with Jody Morris, but they were not exceptionally close.
Lampard, however, was taken aback by Barry’s coaching prowess and in particular his work on set-pieces.
Barry’s dissertation project at the end of his Pro Licence was on throw-ins. He analysed a full Premier League season, looking at 17,000 throw-ins, and his eye for detail has made him a set-piece specialist.
“His work with set pieces at Chelsea was on a completely new level for me,” said Tuchel, when he brought Barry to Bayern Munich last year.
Since being given his big break under Lampard, Barry’s star has continued to rise. He worked with the Republic of Ireland setup for a year part-time from 2021 to 2022, combining it with his work at Chelsea.
Belgium, however, poached Barry from the Irish before the 2022 World Cup as Roberto Martinez had been tracking his work. When Martinez went to Portugal, he took Barry with him.
Martinez, like other coaches, has become a huge fan of Barry’s methods and no more so is that the case than with Tuchel.
When the German replaced Lampard at Chelsea, he kept Barry as part of his coaching team and the pair developed a good relationship.
It came as no surprise that when Tuchel landed the Bayern job last year, he fought to lure Barry away from Chelsea and the German club eventually paid the Blues £1million in compensation to get the deal over the line.
“Our relationship is very respectful and friendly,” said Barry, upon being reunited with Tuchel at Bayern.
“I admired Thomas from the first day. We have a lot of parallels – how we work and how we see football. We try to push each other and to improve.
“That allows us to work at a very high level because we can be completely honest with each other. We talk very openly, discuss our ideas and always try to find the best solution.”
