England assistant coach Anthony Barry has been working closely with Thomas Tuchel to dissect how the national team can take the final step to tournament success after their emotional World Cup semi-final exit. The exhaustive tactical planning has even allowed Barry to joke about his workload under the new manager. “He’s doing my head in,” Barry joked with a smile, pointing to the meticulous preparation taking place behind the scenes. A nthony Barry knows the hunt is on. What is the missing piece of the puzzle.
As England targets the current Nations League campaign as a launching pad for Euro 2028, which they will co-host, Barry believes they are discovering how to unleash their finest talents. Central to this evolution is the sensational form of Jude Bellingham. The Real Madrid midfielder was outstanding in the recent 7-0 thrashing of Croatia in Rijeka, following another brilliant display during the 3-2 defeat against Spain at Wembley the previous Saturday. 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 is early days in the Nations League campaign.
By deploying Bellingham in the No 10 role but granting him the freedom to drift and overload different areas of the pitch, England is tapping into the player’s unique versatility. Historically, Bellingham wore the No 22 shirt at Birmingham because he was seen as a No 4, No 8, and No 10 combined. Tuchel seems to have concluded that rather than confining such a multi-faceted talent to a single position, it is better to let him roam freely. To overload on either side, there were times when Bellingham seemed to be playing with his own ball, playing in the No 10 role but with greater licence to drift. The story about why he wore the No 22 shirt at his first club, Birmingham, is well told. Enabling England’s top players to fully express themselves, and there is a reason why he finds himself talking about Jude Bellingham, it comes down to liberation. Even if he has drawn the eye almost inexorably so far this season, the point is that it is not just about Bellingham.
“The structure allows Jude to play more from his intuition and less from being locked down or caged in a certain position,” Barry explained. He acknowledged the difficulty of managing a player who can excel anywhere on the pitch, noting that the goal is to create a setup where Bellingham can utilize all his strengths simultaneously. While it is still a small sample size, the coaching staff feels they have found the formula to fully unlock his capabilities. So the challenge is to give him a space where he can do it all at once inside of one game.
This fluid approach extends beyond Bellingham, as seen in the tactical shape against Croatia. Rather than sticking to rigid positions, the system encourages players to rotate and occupy unconventional spaces. Full-backs pushed high up the pitch, wingers made diagonal runs inward, and teammates covered for each other to maintain defensive stability. This was exemplified by striker Harry Kane dropping deep into defensive zones to assist the backline when out of possession.
England’s aggressive counterpress was also on display against Croatia, with players working to win the ball back within seconds of losing it. This intensity overwhelmed their opponents, allowing England to build a four-goal lead by halftime. The coaching staff hopes this proactive, flexible style will continue to define their progress, starting with Tuesday’s Nations League match against Czechia at Wembley, moving away from the more rigid positional play that hindered them in their World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina.
“We have moved to a more principle-driven approach, which allows for more flexibility and fluidity,” Barry said. He warned that fluid systems can easily look disorganized in international football due to limited training time, but praised the high football intelligence of the squad for making the transition smooth. Rather than starting fresh, the staff is building on existing foundations with less rigid positioning and more positional interchanges to break down compact opponents.
This approach relies on the intelligence of forward players like Kane and Bellingham to exploit open spaces, supported by energetic, fluid midfielders such as Elliot Anderson, Alex Scott, and Declan Rice. Meanwhile, Kane is set to earn his 125th international cap on Tuesday, equalling Peter Shilton’s appearance record for the England men’s team. Barry praised Kane’s selfless leadership and willingness to track back, calling him “the best ball-striker I have ever worked with”—notable praise from a coach who previously worked alongside Cristiano Ronaldo with the Portuguese national team.
