To most outsiders not connected to Chelsea Football Club, the name Anthony Barry will mean very little. It is, after all, an unassuming and unpretentious name that doesn’t carry the same standing as Thomas Tuchel, Jurgen Klopp, or Pep Guardiola in the world of football. But to those regular matchday goers at Stamford Bridge and the knowledgeable Chelsea fans around the world, that name means more than most can imagine and has been on the lips of concerned Blues supporters during transfer deadline day.
That was primarily down to the fact that former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard had been trying to tempt the 35-year-old assistant coach Barry up the M6 so that he could join him at Everton, the club Lampard had just been made manager of.
It was indeed a touch-and-go situation at Stamford Bridge after Lampard had been successful in persuading Joe Edwards, another assistant coach at Chelsea, to join him in Merseyside which sparked fears amongst not only the fans that Barry would follow suit, but also current manager Tuchel.
The German has in the past been unequivocal in his praise and admiration for Barry’s work on the training ground and his contribution in helping Chelsea score the second-most goals this season from set pieces. The Blues’ ten goals from dead-ball situations are only bettered by Liverpool who have managed 12. Tuchel is, of course, keenly aware that this is down to the meticulous preparation work Barry does off the pitch and his skilled training on it.
The 48-year-old even went as far as saying that Barry and his team “present and train set-pieces on the highest level that he has ever experienced”. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why there was such panic around Cobham Training Centre when Lampard was making his advances for Barry in the dying embers of the January window but the encouraging news is that the 35-year-old will stay with Chelsea for the time being, and won’t be going anywhere before the summer. Naturally, this news has been extremely well received by Chelsea fans and management given how the club couldn’t afford to lose one of their star tacticians during a month when the Champions League begins again.
Barry was, after all, one of the key contributors to that momentous night in Porto in 2021 and it’s understandable how much the passionate Chelsea fans were worried that he wouldn’t be around to begin the knockout journey with the Blues in late February. Indeed, Chelsea will host Lille on the 22nd of February in a match that they are expected to win at odds of 3/10.
Although given the unpredictable nature of knockout football, Chelsea fans may be wary of betting on that match before it begins. Supporters can use a LeoVegas bonus code for the match that offers a live in-play profit boost up to £100. In essence, this will give supporters time to assess any surprising patterns in the game before betting in-play. With Anthony Barry’s help, the Blues should go marching on against the Ligue 1 side, but this may be the last season that the 35-year-old is involved in the Champions League for a while given that his future at Chelsea is far from certain.
Indeed, this may not be the end of the pursuit by the new Everton boss Lampard as you can imagine a scenario where the Toffees try once more to bring Barry’s expertise to Goodison Park once the season ends. Crucially, Barry began his career with Everton as a player in 2004 which means that a return to the club could be a way of returning to the place where it all began for him.
In addition to that, you can imagine that his ties to family and friends in the area are still strong and could be a key reason as to why he might eventually accept Lampard’s offer of joining Everton’s backroom staff.
Should Barry decide to swap west London for Merseyside then there can be little doubt that Chelsea Football Club will be worse off for it after all the season-defining work the 35-year-old has carried out to date.
Thomas Tuchel, will by now, know the threat that Chelsea face in terms of Everton’s courtship of Anthony Barry so you can be certain that the shrewd German will try and tie the ‘brains behind Chelsea’s set-pieces’ down to a long-term deal in the build-up to the summer.