Anthony Barry on learning German, working with Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich

When Thomas Tuchel made the move to Bayern Munich this Spring, he brought along his former Chelsea FC assistant, Anthony Barry — who had still been coaching the Blues at the time. The pair will renew their partnership on the Bayern bench, but there’s one big difference now: everyone’s speaking German.

“It’s currently not a problem that I’m coaching in English, the players understand me. But my goal is to be able to coach in German as well,” said Anthony Barry in an interview released on the FC Bayern website.

Barry, 36, enjoys a good rapport with Tuchel, 49, and is delighted with their reunion in Munich.

“Our relationship is very respectful and friendly. I admired Thomas from the start. We have a lot of parallels — the way we work and the way we see football. We try to push each other and improve ourselves,” he added. “Working together in the coaching team is very familiar and close. It allows us to work at a very high level because we can be completely honest with each other. We speak very openly, discuss our ideas and always try to find the best solution.”

One specific area of responsibility for Barry will be set pieces, where after Bayern’s opening goal this season — an exquisite Joshua Kimmich freekick in the fifth minute against Eintracht Frankfurt — the club has at times struggled, both offensively and defensively.

“As a top team, you have to be top, even in set piece situations. It’s an important area for us to work on,” Barry concluded.