Chelsea made some major signings this summer, but as well as the players that arrived at Stamford Bridge, there was also an addition to the backroom staff.
Anthony Barry arrived from Wigan, with many describing him as a “defensive coach” who was going to help the team work on set pieces and their overall structure when defending.
Our set pieces have improved markedly this season, and when asked in an interview on the club’s official website what part Barry had played in that, Frank Lampard went into some detail on how the new coach was helping:
“He’s been a real positive for the group dynamic, and in all senses,” the manager explained.
“He’s certainly helped on set-pieces, but he’s very diligent, he pays so much attention to ourselves and the opposition in every part of the game, from what we do in the office, to studying opposition and working on the training field,” Lampard went on.
“It’s very important you have balance within staff, and what Anthony has given us is another person and another level of expertise that I can call upon, and a work ethic that is outstanding,” Lampard concluded.
It’s harder to judge his impact on the defence because we changed so much of the personnel of the back 5, but at set pieces – both offensive and defensive – we look so much better.
Hopefully he can continue that work through the rest of this season – there are a lot of games still to play, and we can make huge gains with a few clever moves.
