--- source: thedugout.football generated: 2026-06-09T18:33:16.903Z last_updated: 2026-06-09T05:00:00+00:00 data_provider: API-Football canonical: https://thedugout.football/clubs/everton/news/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGl2ZXJwb29sZWNoby5jby51ay9zcG9ydC9mb290YmFsbC9mb290YmFsbC1uZXdzL2FudGhvbnktYmFycnktbWVldC1zY291c2VyLXdoby0zNDA4MjQ5NQ --- # Meet the Scouser who is England's secret weapon in bid for World Cup glory - **Source:** - **Published:** 9 Jun - **Club:** Everton - **Original URL:** https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/anthony-barry-meet-scouser-who-34082495 As Thomas Tuchel prepares to lead England into the World Cup next week, attention is turning to one of the most influential figures behind the scenes - Liverpool-born assistant Anthony Barry, who is the Scouser playing a key role in the Three Lions' bid for glory. Barry, who turned 40 in late May, is becoming widely respected across European football, having served at clubs such as Chelsea and Bayern Munich prior to taking up a post with England when Tuchel was appointed at the start of 2025. Now an influential voice in Tuchel's inner coaching circle, the Allerton native is heavily involved in the detailed preparation, planning and tactical work that underpins England’s campaign, which gets underway when Harry Kane leads the team out to face Croatia in Dallas on June 17. Barry, who was on Everton's books as a youngster, began his football education in the heart of the city, playing on local pitches and parks. Those who know him from his early years say his understanding of football was clear from a young age, with a natural curiosity for tactics and coaching that set him apart. After his playing career was cut short in his 20s, he focused on the coaching side of the game and has enjoyed a meteoric rise. "It makes me smile when you say my coaching journey has been short because it doesn't feel so short to me," Barry says. "I've been an assistant coach now for nine or 10 years. So it started at 30 and I am now 40, so 10 years as an assistant coach. Accrington was my first job and I was with the Under-16s. "The manager at the time, John Coleman, was wanting me to be more around the staff of the first team and I was trying to up-skill myself as a coach. I had already started doing my badges at 24 because of a playing career that was blighted with injuries, so I'd started my badges young, finished them early and was given the role with Accrington Under-16s at 29. "This was, for me, the exact opportunity I'd wanted. At this point, I'd been offered the opportunity to take on jobs at bigger clubs, with younger age groups. But it was never something that ever stimulated me, I wanted to be around the men's game, that was my passion, where it was about three points. "I wanted to be around tactical conversations that stimulated me, so that was where I wanted to be as a young coach. So to be with Accrington was a gift from John Coleman. I did around six to nine months there and I was fortunate enough to get the first opportunity." Barry has built a strong reputation through coaching roles in England and across Europe, earning recognition as one of the most detail-driven assistant coaches in the modern game. His rise has been shaped by experience at elite clubs and working alongside some of the game’s top managers. As England continue their preparations for the World Cup across the United States, Mexico and Canada, the Liverpool-born coach remains integral behind the scenes, helping shape the team’s bid to end 60 years of hurt as the Three Lions go in search of a first World Cup since 1966. "I suppose it was just my passion and a lot of coaches want to go into the youth system where they can make their mistakes and develop and there's not so many eyes watching when it's 9s, 10s or 11s," Barry adds. "For me that just wasn't how I wanted to begin. "I wanted to be as close as I could to first-team football. I wanted to work on the tactical side of the game, which was something that always intrigued me, that fascinated me. I had the courage and bravery I would say to go and make mistakes at a more senior level and it was just something that was always going to be my way from when I started these courses from 23/24. "There are so many big names on these courses, I learned from very early on that, for me - I was a nobody in the game, I had no real profile to become a coach - I'd have to become a coach where I could do something different and that was always the idea: to do something different. To do something quicker. To do something that was outside the normal realms of the progression of a young coach. "I think my identity as a coach came pretty quickly, you mentioned Accrington and the way I coach has not changed. It was something that came naturally to me. I found a voice that, and the manner in which I interact with players, that style has always been mine. It's probably what allowed my career to accelerate. Barry, who has also previously worked with the Republic of Ireland set-up and with former Everton boss Roberto Martinez at Belgium, says: "I suppose that's been my gift across the last five or six years, working with so many different managers, so many different cultures, so many different players and you do learn a lot off the elite players. "So that has been the gift but it's also been the challenge to try and bring it all under one umbrella, how to make something into mine, how to sit in different rooms and discuss football with different managers and use language that they understand. "So it has been a huge challenge for me, to bring it all under one umbrella, but I wouldn't change it. If you ask my wife, it's been a bigger challenge for her on a personal level to keep moving teams, keep moving countries, but it has been my gift as a coach because it has allowed me to get into the position I am in now as England assistant, which is one of the biggest honours of my career."