Thierno Barry reveals Liverpool and Newcastle rivals he spends hours watching amid issues
Thierno Barry has revealed which players from Everton’s Premier League rivals he is watching closely in an attempt to adapt better to the Premier League.
Everton signed Barry from Villarreal in the summer but he is yet to find the net for his new club across 13 outings.
Having scored in just his second league outing during his one season in La Liga on the way to a final tally of 11 the early returns have been disappointing for the Frenchman in England.
Barry has highlighted Seamus Coleman and Idrissa Gueye as Everton teammates who have supported him behind the scenes, but there are counterparts at both Newcastle and Liverpool he has his eye on.
Thierno Barry watches Hugo Ekitike and Nick Woltemade
Barry spoke to The Athletic and detailed the processes he is going through in an attempt to improve and get over his scoring drought at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
He revealed that one of the areas he has developed is his video analysis, both with staff at Everton and in private, saying he was previously “never someone who watched too much football, despite always loving playing the game”.
Now he spends “hour after hour” watching rivals within the Premier League to assess what they are doing to adapt to the style of the division which Barry may be able to pick up, specifically Hugo Ekitike at Liverpool and Newcastle’s Nick Woltemade.
He said: “We arrived at the same time and I like to see how they are adapting, the runs they are making.”
Closer to home, however, he doesn’t feel he is trying to outdo teammate Beto, saying: “People say I’m in competition now with Beto, but I don’t see it like that. I’m in competition with myself, and if I prevail personally then I always have confidence I could do the job. That’s why I got a tattoo during my time at Basel: ‘Me against Me.’ Whenever I have a difficult moment now, I look at that.”
Thierno Barry must catch up to Liverpool and Newcastle stars
If it helps him start to find the net for Everton then Barry doing whatever he needs to do has to be a positive.
Having cost less than half the other two summer striker signings, with The Friedkin Group not looking to splurge excessively during a window that required multiple replacements, it might be expected that the output lags behind slightly.
| Player | Fee | Appearances (all comps) | Goals (all comps) |
| Thierno Barry | £27 million | 13 | 0 |
| Hugo Ekitike | £79 million (inc. add ons) | 16 | 6 |
| Nick Woltemade | £69 million | 14 | 6 |
But both Ekitike, who was once an Everton target himself, and Woltemade have adapted relatively quickly to English football despite all three being 23, and have already shot out ahead on six goals apiece.
Beto’s own lack of goal output this term (two) is adding to the pressure for David Moyes, and on supporting attackers such as Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye.
If the Toffees can’t get a more regular scoring return from the central striker spot then it will continue to undercut what was a positive start to the campaign.
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