Anthony Barry knows the hunt is on. The England assistant coach has been through the debriefs. He has mulled over the minutiae with Thomas Tuchel to such an extent he is allowed to make a joke at the boss’s expense. “He’s doing my head in,” Barry says with a smile. What is the missing piece of the puzzle? After all the emotion of England’s semi-final finish at the World Cup, how can they take the decisive step to glory?
It is early days in the Nations League campaign, which everybody at the Football Association wants to use as a slingshot into Euro 2028 when England will co-host, but Barry can see the genesis of an answer. It comes down to liberation, enabling England’s top players to fully express themselves, and there is a reason why he finds himself talking about Jude Bellingham.
The Real Madrid player was sensational in Saturday’s 7-0 win over Croatia in Rijeka, just as he was in the 3-2 defeat against Spain at Wembley on the Saturday before that. Playing in the No 10 role but with greater licence to drift, to overload on either side, there were times when Bellingham seemed to be playing with his own ball.
The story about why he wore the No 22 shirt at his first club, Birmingham, is well told. Because he was a No 4, a No 8 and a No 10 rolled into one. Tuchel appears to have reached a conclusion, the basis of which was formed at the World Cup when Bellingham excelled: when a talent like him can play in so many positions, perhaps it is better not to give him one at all.
“The structure [now in the Nations League] allows Jude to play more from his intuition,” Barry says, “and less from being locked down or caged in a certain position. It allows him to roam and operate in spaces in which he thinks he can be dangerous and so far it’s brought out the best in him.
“It is a challenge because Jude can play in any of those positions comfortably and on a high level. So the challenge is to give him a space where he can do it all at once inside of one game. Right now, in a short sample, it seems like we found a solution to unlock all of the potential that Jude has. But we have to continue.”
The point is that it is not just about Bellingham, even if he has drawn the eye almost inexorably so far this season. The blueprint was there for all to see against Croatia and it is one in which plenty of players were encouraged to push into new zones away from those traditionally dictated by their positions. Hence Tuchel had the full-backs extremely high, the wingers making zipping runs off the sides.
It is about the combinations, the slicker the better, but also about players dropping into unusual areas to provide cover and using their footballing intelligence to ensure the overall structure retains its shape. Hence there was the sight of Harry Kane dropping into defensive spaces out of possession, the kind where most No 9s would never tread.
It was impossible to ignore the ferocity of England’s counterpress; how if one player lost the ball, he and his teammates sought to regain it within two or three seconds. Croatia were overwhelmed, especially in the first half, which ended with England four goals up. The intensity has to endure. But it is the proactive add-ons that the management hope will drive the new tournament cycle, continuing against Czechia in the Nations League at Wembley on Tuesday night. It is no longer a positional style. The idea is that it is freer. Is it a reaction to the inhibitions England came to feel in the World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina?
“We have moved to a more principle-driven approach, which allows for more flexibility and fluidity,” Barry says. “But fluidity only looks good if it’s anchored by real principles. There is always a danger in international football with such a lack of time to prepare that if you go for this fluid model it can look quite messy. With the IQ of the players we have, it’s been quite natural for them to work together, operate in different spaces.
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“It’s not about starting new, it’s about continuation and adding stuff on top. It’s less prescribed, less fixed in the idea of: ‘You play here, you play there.’ It’s more interchanges of position. We feel it suits this group of players and is the best way to break down opposing blocks.
“When you have players like Harry and Jude on the frontline that are really better at moving, that have this deep intuition and IQ for the game … [it is] to trust them, open up spaces for them to operate. It’s also part of the model that we’re moving forward with. We have elite penetration on the last line, whether that comes from our wingers or our full-backs. And we have fluid midfielders with Elliot [Anderson], Alex [Scott] and Declan [Rice], who are happy to move for miles.”
Kane is primed to win his 125th cap on Tuesday night and equal Peter Shilton’s England men’s record. It is a time for tributes and Barry was effusive in his praise of Kane’s professionalism and leadership, his selflessness, his lack of ego; how he is happy to “track back and do the dirty work”.
Barry had a better line. “He’s the best ball-striker I have ever worked with,” he said. It is worth noting Barry worked with Cristiano Ronaldo during his time with Portugal as the assistant manager to Roberto Martínez. It is one key reason for Barry’s sense of optimism. There are many others.
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