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A decade ago, the England assistant coach was playing at a lower division club. Currently, he is focused on helping Thomas Tuchel secure World Cup glory in the upcoming tournament. The road from player to coach began as an unpaid coach for Accrington's Under-16s. He remembers, “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.

Staggering Ascent

Barry's progression is incredible. Starting as Paul Cook’s assistant, he built a standing through unique exercises and great man-management. His roles at clubs led him to Chelsea and Bayern Munich, and he held roles with national teams with the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, and Portugal. His players include stars like world-class talents. Now, with England, he's fully immersed, the peak according to him.

“Dreams are the starting point … However, I hold that obsession can move mountains. You dream big but then you bring it down: ‘How can we achieve it, each day, each phase?’ Our goal is the World Cup. But dreams won’t get it done. It's essential to develop a structured plan so we can for optimal success.”

Focus on Minutiae

Dedication, focusing on tiny aspects, defines Barry’s story. Working every hour all the time, the coaching duo push hard at comfort zones. The approach feature player analysis, a heat-proof game model ahead of the tournament in North America, and fostering teamwork. He stresses “Team England” and dislikes phrases such as "break".

“You’re not coming here for a holiday or a break,” he explains. “We had to build something that attracts the squad and they're pushed that returning to club duty feels easier.”

Driven Leaders

Barry describes himself and Tuchel as “very greedy”. “We want to dominate all parts of the match,” Barry affirms. “We seek to command the entire field and that's our focus long hours toward. We must not only to stay ahead of changes but to beat them and set new standards. It’s a constant process with a mindset of solving issues. And it’s to make the complex clear.

“There are 50 days with the players ahead of the tournament. We need to execute a sophisticated style that gives us a tactical advantage and explain it thoroughly during that time. It’s to take it from idea to information to understanding to action.

“To develop a process enabling productivity in the 50 days, we have to use the entire 500 days we'll have since we took the job. In the time we don’t have the players, we need to foster connections with them. We have to spend time on the phone with them, observing them live, sense their presence. Relying only on those 50 days, it's impossible.”

Final Qualifiers

He is getting ready on the last two in the qualifying campaign – facing Serbia at home and away to Albania. The team has secured their place at the finals by winning all six games with perfect defensive records. However, they won't relax; quite the opposite. This period to reinforce the team’s identity, to gain more impetus.

“Thomas and I are both pretty clear that the football philosophy should represent everything that is good of English football,” Barry says. “The athleticism, the flexibility, the robustness, the work ethic. The national team shirt must be difficult to earn but light to wear. It should feel like a cape and not body armour.

“To make it light, it's crucial to offer a system that lets them to move and run like they do every week, that connects with them and allows them to take the handbrake off. They should overthink less and increase execution.

“You can gain psychological edges you can get as a coach at both ends of the pitch – building from the defense, attacking high up. But in the middle area of the pitch, those 24 metres, it seems football is static, particularly in the Premier League. Coaches have extensive data these days. They can organize – defensive shapes. We are really trying to increase tempo across those 24 metres.”

Drive for Growth

The coach's thirst to get better is all-consuming. When he studied for the top coaching badge, he had concerns about the presentation, especially as his class contained luminaries such as Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick. So, to build his skill set, he went into the most challenging environments he could find to improve his talks. One was HMP Walton locally, where he also took inmates for a training session.

He completed the course as the best in his year, and his dissertation – The Undervalued Set Piece, in which he examined numerous set-plays – was published. Lampard was among those impressed and he brought Barry on to his staff at Stamford Bridge. After Lampard's dismissal, it spoke volumes that the team dismissed virtually all of his coaches while keeping Barry.

His replacement at Stamford Bridge became Tuchel, and, four months later, they claimed the Champions League. After Tuchel's exit, Barry stayed on with Potter. Once Tuchel resurfaced with Bayern, he got Barry out from Chelsea to work together again. The Football Association view them as a partnership like previous management pairs.

“I’ve never seen anything like Thomas {in terms of personality and methodology|in character and approach|