There's something beautifully fitting about a Scouser being at the heart of England's World Cup preparations. Anthony Barry, the Liverpool-born assistant coach working alongside Thomas Tuchel, represents everything we love about local lads making it to the very top.

The 40-year-old Allerton native has become one of European football's most respected voices, serving at elite clubs like Chelsea and Bayern Munich before joining England's setup when Tuchel was appointed at the start of 2025. Now he's helping shape the Three Lions' campaign as they prepare to face Croatia in Dallas on June 17.

Barry's journey reads like a modern football fairytale. A former Everton youth player whose playing career was cut short by injuries in his twenties, he channelled his football intelligence into coaching with remarkable results. Those who knew him growing up on Liverpool's pitches say his tactical understanding was evident from day one.

"It makes me smile when you say my coaching journey has been short because it doesn't feel so short to me," Barry reflects. "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."

His first break came at Accrington Stanley, working with their Under-16s at 29. It wasn't the glamorous start many might expect, but Barry saw something others didn't. "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."

That hunger for the sharp end of football set Barry apart from his contemporaries. While other young coaches sought safe development paths through youth football, he craved the tactical conversations and pressure that come with first-team football. "I wanted to be around tactical conversations that stimulated me, so that was where I wanted to be as a young coach," he explains.

The gamble paid off spectacularly. Starting his badges at 24 due to injury concerns, Barry finished his qualifications early and threw himself into senior coaching with characteristic determination. "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. For me that just wasn't how I wanted to begin."

This fearlessness became Barry's calling card. "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," he says. "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."

Barry's coaching identity crystallised quickly, remaining consistent from those early days at Accrington through to his current role with England. "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."

His adaptability has been tested across multiple cultures and footballing philosophies. Having worked with the Republic of Ireland and alongside Roberto Martinez at Belgium, Barry has mastered the art of translating his methods across different environments. "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."

The challenge of constant adaptation hasn't been without personal cost. "If you ask my wife, it's been a bigger challenge for her on a personal level to keep moving teams, keep moving countries," Barry admits. Yet he wouldn't change a thing. "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."

Now, as England prepare for their World Cup campaign across the United States, Mexico and Canada, Barry finds himself integral to ending 60 years of hurt. The detailed preparation, tactical planning and behind-the-scenes work he's renowned for could prove decisive in the Three Lions' quest for a first World Cup since 1966.

From the pitches of Allerton to the biggest stage in world football, Anthony Barry's story proves that with enough determination and tactical acumen, even nobodies can become somebodies. England's World Cup hopes may well rest on the shoulders of this remarkable Scouser.