By OkayGoal
Thomas Tuchel wants Anthony Barry by his side until at least Euro 2028, but the England boss admits he is not surprised that his assistant is being talked about for the Crystal Palace job.
Barry, 40, is reported to be among the frontrunners if Palace decide to move on from Pierre Sage. The Frenchman only replaced Oliver Glasner in June, but Palace are 18th in the Premier League with seven points from nine games, and nobody has conceded more than their 21 goals.
Sunday’s visit of Liverpool to Selhurst Park now looks like a big afternoon for Sage. Another league defeat would be a fourth in a row, and it would leave the board with a decision to make over the international break.
What did Tuchel say about Anthony Barry and Crystal Palace?
Tuchel, who named his latest England squad on Friday, was asked about the speculation by BBC Radio 5 Live and did not try to play down how highly he rates his No.2.
“He’s very important to me,” Tuchel said. “I mean, that’s why I did everything I could to convince him to join my staff once we met in Chelsea and join me on my way to Bayern Munich and then in the national team. It’s a privilege for me to have him by my side. He’s challenging me, he’s helping me, he makes me better.”
“He’s just a fantastic person and the highest-level coach, so I am not surprised that there are rumours around him. I’m not surprised if there were like possibilities for him.”
Is Barry under contract with England?
Yes. Barry’s contract with the Football Association runs until the end of Euro 2028, the tournament England will co-host, and Tuchel made it clear he wants it to run its course.
“My understanding, my wish is, of course, that we stay together until minimum until the Euros,” he said. “For me, we are by far not finished, and he will always have a place in my coaching staff, also after the Euros.”
He did leave the door open, though. “But, listen, he has to follow also his own path. At the moment, I think that we are an excellent team, and I think that he feels that he’s in a good place where he wants to be. As soon as this changes, I think I will be the first to know. At the moment, I don’t know nothing, so I’m pretty confident that he’s in a good place, but I’m not surprised that he has offers.”
Who is Anthony Barry?
Barry has never been a senior first-team manager, which is the obvious risk for Palace. What he does have is a long run as one of the most respected assistants in the game, most of it alongside Tuchel at Chelsea, Bayern Munich and now England.
The Liverpudlian started coaching at Accrington Stanley and Wigan Athletic, and he also worked with the Republic of Ireland, then with Belgium and Portugal under Roberto Martinez. That is a coaching education few first-time managers can match, even if the top job would be new to him.
Why is Pierre Sage under pressure?
The defensive solidity of the Glasner years has gone. Palace have won just once in their last seven games, and the 2-0 defeat at Tottenham on 31 October, when Jean-Philippe Mateta was sent off in the 12th minute, made things worse. Mateta is now banned for the Liverpool game.
Europe has been kinder. Ten-man Palace rescued a 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim in the Europa League on Thursday, thanks to Daichi Kamada’s stoppage-time equaliser. It was spirited, but it was still another game without a win.
Sage still has admirers at his old club, too, as we covered when Lyon went looking for a new head coach. For now, though, his focus is a Liverpool side that have lost their last two games.
Who else are Palace looking at?
Barry is not the only name. Sean Dyche, Thomas Frank, Vitor Pereira and Rob Edwards have all been linked with the job amid the uncertainty over Sage’s future.
Most of those names have run a club of their own before. Barry would be the bold choice, a first job in senior management at a club near the bottom.
Verdict: Barry to Crystal Palace is a gamble Palace may not be ready to take
Barry is a top coach, and Tuchel’s words leave no doubt about that. But asking a first-time manager to fix a side in the bottom three, in the middle of a Europa League campaign, is a huge leap of faith, and Palace cannot afford to get this one wrong.
If the board do act after Sunday, an experienced survival manager feels the safer call. Barry’s time will come, and from the way Tuchel spoke, England would be happy for it to wait until after 2028.