James Tarkowski wowed by ‘through the roof’ Thierno Barry trait for Everton

Thierno Barry scored his eighth goal in 12 games for Everton this season on Monday night, prompting a lot of praise for the Frenchman after the game.

Speaking to Premier League Productions after the game, James Tarkowski heaped praise on Barry for getting another goal, but also just how hard he works.

“Barry gets the goal again for us. There is a lot on his shoulders because he is our only recognised striker, but he keeps turning up”, the Everton captain explained.

“He is harsh on himself at times, so I’m trying to praise him more. He is on his own up there a lot; his numbers are through the roof on running.”

Barry does a thankless job for Everton, forced to play almost every minute, and is always in a physical battle up top. But in a sink-or-swim environment, he’s absolutely swimming.

Also speaking to Premier League Productions, Michael Owen highlighted what was impressing him about Barry this season.

“You have to be made of certain stuff to be a centre forward, and you cannot get down if you miss chances. He misses more than anybody. Mentally, if that gets you down, you’ll very rarely score.

“You have to have the attitude that missing a chance isn’t a bad thing, as it means you are getting into the positions. It is not easy to get chances in this league, so he must be doing something right.”

Tarkowski says Barry’s running numbers are through the roof, but that isn’t entirely true. In the Premier League this season, among strikers, Barry only sits ninth for distance covered and 17th for the same stat per 90.

Barry has covered 85.3 km through nine games this season, behind Erling Haaland, Kai Havertz, Bryan Mbeumo, and a few other low league strikers. But Barry is slightly higher in terms of the sprints he completes, at 12.8 per 90.

Barry is seventh (joint fifth apart from per 90) in the league for this, getting his big 6ft 4in frame into a sprint on 109 occasions. Which in itself is a feat, even more impressive when considering how quick he can be.

So while not through the roof, Barry does still cover a lot of ground in a team which is often criticised as being passive, although that has been far from the case lately. Long may Barry’s brilliance continue.