Team spirit is key to putting second star on the England shirt

TUCHEL DEPUTY ON AMERICAN DREAM

- BY PAUL GORST

AS SOMEONE who watched nearly 17,000 throw-ins as part of a year-long study, it is fair to say Anthony Barry is a details man.

So it comes as a surprise to hear that the secret to England winning this summer's World Cup in North America, according to Thomas Tuchel’s right-hand man, is the “brotherhood” that will be struck between the players.

Barry says this factor, more so than any technical or tactical fine print, is what will fuel the Three Lions’ pursuit of World Cup glory.

“We wanted to build a connection” England assistant Barry said. “We wanted to build a brotherhood and we wanted to build a team that wanted to be together.

“When I was working in club football, I used to know, from leaving Chelsea or Bayern Munich to go into my international break, which teams were going to win.

“I could tell in the way they walked out the door. I could tell the way they wanted to join their international team-mates.

“Now we wanted to build something here that the players wanted to come to.