Why Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall impressed with what he did to Thierno Barry - 'that's boss'

Thierno Barry is still a work in progress at Everton this season.

The French striker scored eight Premier League goals in his debut campaign at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

This term, he has six already across all competitions, and is an undisputed starter as Everton's only senior striker on the books.

But it is fair to say that Barry is not the finished article.

Indeed, his 10 missed "big chances" are more than double of any other player in the Premier League so far this season.

Still, though, there has been a marked improvement, and one thing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall did to Barry caught the eye of podcaster Matt Jones.

Dewsbury-Hall gesture to Barry shows Everton growth

Barry was signed for £27million from Villarreal in the summer of 2025, but was in and out of the starting XI last term.

At times, he cut a frustrated, sometimes sulky, figure if things were not going his way.

But Barry is steadily improving, and both he and Dewsbury-Hall were on target in the 2-2 draw against Hull City last weekend.

Speaking on the Blue Room podcast, Jones noted how a post-match interview between Dewsbury-Hall and Barry showcased how the latter looks much more integrated with the squad this term.

He particularly revelled in how Dewsbury-Hall playfully took the mick out of his team-mate during the interview.

Jones said: "I don't know if you saw the interview Dewsbury-Hall did with him (Barry) after the game on Sunday, like Dewsbury-Hall taking the p*** out of him a little bit.

"I was like 'that's boss', it shows that he's part of it and they can have a joke with him now and all that kind of thing, and saying that they've got a love-hate relationship, that's the sort of thing that team-mates do, isn't it?

"It's not 'I need to careful around this lad, he's new and maybe a little bit sensitive to things like that'.

"That speaks to me as someone who's fully into this now, and I think the manager and all the players have spoken about how hard he's worked and how much work he's put in over the summer and come back with a different attitude."

Will patience be a virtue for Thierno Barry and Everton?

When you fork out big money on a striker, there is always an expectation that they hit the ground running.

But there was always an understanding that Barry might be a little bit of a slow burner.

It is concerning when you think of the "big chances" he has passed up for Everton already this season.

On the flip side, though, at least he is getting himself into those positions and if he keeps doing that you'd expect more goals to follow.

At some stage we need to see a bigger goals return that's for sure, but patience might have to be a virtue for both Barry and Everton.