Thierno Barry has matched his goal tally from last season in just 12 games, cementing his status as Everton’s main attacking threat following a difficult debut campaign on Merseyside.
From struggling debutant to key talisman
The 24-year-old scored against Newcastle for the second time in five days on Monday night as Everton secured a deserved victory at St James’ Park in the Premier League. Only Erling Haaland with 13 goals has scored more among Premier League players in all competitions this season than Barry, who has netted eight times. As Everton’s only recognised senior striker following Beto’s transfer to Fiorentina, the Frenchman is currently indispensable to the Toffees.
His recent form contrasts sharply with his rough start after joining the club from Villarreal last summer, a period where he managed just one shot across his first 16 Everton games and recently posted a video of himself breaking down during a private training session. Barry told Sky Sports that his summer hard work is now paying off, expressing happiness at helping the team and enjoying his football again. However, Newcastle manager Matthias Jaissle told BBC Sport that the goal involved a clear foul on Fabian Schar in the build-up.
Overcoming missed chances
Statistically, Barry leads the Premier League in being involved in the highest proportion of his team’s big chances, participating in 15 out of Everton’s 24 big chances before Monday’s match, which accounts for 62.5%. Although critics have often targeted him for being wasteful, and he scuffed a shot earlier in Monday’s game after latching on to Jarrad Branthwaite’s flick-on, he ultimately converted a simple two-yard tap-in with an expected goals value of 0.995.
Former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports that people know Barry misses chances, but they also know he keeps going and scores goals. Everton manager David Moyes added that the club is thrilled the centre-forward is scoring because teams need their main striker to deliver, noting that while Barry misses a few, he was on the spot to get the decisive goal.
