Gareth Barry reinvigorated by Everton move and harbours dream of England recall for 2014 World Cup
Exclusive: Everton midfielder reveals all on his relationships with former managers and ambitions to reclaim England spot
So there was Gareth Barry sitting at home last August, his children’s two ducks waddling around outside, his wife’s horses grazing in the surrounding fields, when Roberto Martinez appeared up the drive. It was the moment that changed Barry’s career, that has him thinking of England again and also helped underpin Everton’s strong start to the season.
Barry was sitting at home, pondering his future, knowing Manuel Pellegrini did not want him at Manchester City. “I got a phone-call from City on my holidays, saying if you want regular first-team football it's not going to be happening this season at City. That was a bit of a shock. My initial thought was ‘that’s quite harsh’.
“I told the club I want to go in for pre-season and let the manager see me, see me train. The club respected that. I wasn’t ready to just go and look for a new club. I came and trained, went on pre-season (to South Africa and Hong Kong) and felt I gave a good account of myself. But the manager had made his mind up, no matter what I did.
“There was a running joke under Roberto Mancini (Pellegrini’s predecessor) amongst the English players that ‘you’re English, you’re next out of the door!’ It probably is this season amongst the English players! Especially when Joe Hart is left out a team this year a couple of times, I thought: ‘Bloody hell, there’s none in there left!’
"I don’t think it was anything to do with me being English. Pellegrini looked at my style and it obviously didn’t suit him. He was a nice bloke, he was honest about it and I respected that.
“My thinking was I could sit at City, might get the odd game, have the chance of picking up a few more trophies, and looking back I might have played more than I thought. Or go out and play regularly somewhere else and enjoy the season more. Everton was the most concrete option.
“When I didn’t travel to Helsinki for a pre-season game (against Arsenal on Aug 10), Roberto Martinez found out I wasn’t in the squad, got permission to speak to me and came round to my house. I thought ‘he’s making a big effort here’. The moment I spoke to the manager, I thought 'I like this bloke, he has a good vision'. Within 10 minutes, he’d given me my confidence back, telling me he believed in me, that I could be a focal part of Everton and what we could do at Everton. He left my house and I was thinking this is the move for me.’’
Barry reflected on his career to date, on leaving Brighton & Hove Albion aged 16 and joining Aston Villa, his development accelerating under John Gregory, on maturing into one of the most admired central midfielders in the country.
“Gregory gave me the chance. He was very bubbly, having jokes, messing round with the players. He was closest to the players of all the managers I’ve had. Graham Taylor replaced him. He put me left midfield. He didn’t see me as a defender which I felt was a good move. With David O’Leary, I had a little taste in central midfield but he mainly played me left-mid.
“It was Martin O’Neill who said ‘you’re a central midfielder’. He put faith into players. He was very clever at getting into players’heads, leaving little remarks to make me believe more. The players at Villa all moved up another level under him.’’
Liverpool were interested in Barry, seemingly as a replacement for Xabi Alonso, a possibility that incensed the Kop. Then City, newly wealthy with their Abu Dhabi owners, stepped in for Barry in 2009.
“That was when City said ‘this is the summer we really go for it, spend a lot of money, and try and blast the Premier League away’. Mark Hughes came to see me. It was a little gamble for me. He mentioned this mad train City were going on and that it would be foolish of me not to get on it. Liverpool were still there at the time. I took the gamble and it was a mad four years there.’’
After Barry signed his deal at what was then the City of Manchester Stadium, he was driven away by Michael Standing, a loyal friend from their days at Brighton and Villa. Barry sat in the passenger seat. “I was on the way to the airport going on a golfing trip with a few of my friends! My best mate, Michael, was driving, and I was just looking forward to a new start. I’d been at Villa for 12 years. I was excited at the summer of holidays ahead, and at going to City. There were reasons to be smiling!’’
Hughes, though, was sacked a year later. “I just felt there was so much pressure on Mark,’’ continued Barry. “You’ve got this money, you're spending it and (the owners say) ‘we want immediate success’. But no matter who you buy sometimes it just doesn’t happen like that. I enjoyed working under Mark. I felt he had a lot to offer the club but he had a few sticky results, and all of a sudden they were looking elsewhere.’’
To Mancini. “Mancini was completely the opposite from what I said about John Gregory. He was very strong-minded. Whatever he thought was right WAS right, no matter what. There were a lot of times players would go against him and say ‘we think this’ but his way was always the final way. It was (frustrating) for certain characters. For more laid-back characters not so much. You do hear a lot about ‘player power’ but I’m one of those who believes the manager is there to take control, to be in charge. He should have the final decision.
“When you get big characters like Carlos Tevez who believe in themselves, and they are the similar sort of character to the manager then you do get the clash. There wasn’t too many of them. Obviously the high-profile one was the Bayern Munich game (when Tevez did not go on the pitch). That got into a very sticky situation over probably a little thing that happens in football. It got blown up.’’
Barry enjoyed his four years at City, winning the FA Cup in 2011 and Premier League in 2012 under Mancini. “Some people see that as quick success. The owners probably wanted it sooner than that. We had the players. The manager in the end got it right in terms of winning the league. He believed in being defensively sound and going from there. We won the league on the back of that. The new manager now is going down the other route (attacking more). Certainly they've reacted to it, scoring plenty of goals which, from all accounts, is what the owners want.
“Every now and again I've a think about the four fantastic years, winning the league and the FA Cup, playing amongst fantastic players, but I have to keep looking forward. That’s obviously Everton.’’
He’s quite a relaxed individual, spending his time away from football playing golf or being with his family. “I like going down to London for a couple of days but it’s a place where I’d never fancy living; too busy, too lively, people on top of you. I live in the middle of fields. My wife is massively into horses. She events. In terms of looking for houses, we're restricted! It’s school, stables and don’t worry about me!’’
Looking lean and invigorated after training at Finch Farm on Saturday, Barry was sitting in a corner of the canteen, glancing occasionally at the picture of Nelson Mandela that Martinez had on a screen to inspire the players, at photographs of Everton greats from Dixie Dean to Duncan Ferguson. Martinez wants them to be lifted by the club’s history and to add to it. One of the frames on the wall of fame is left blank: the challenge is for the current generation to fill it with an image of their own deeds.
“The top target is getting into the Champions League,’’ continued Everton’s No 18. “If we break into that top four with the amount of good teams around, we’ve had a fantastic year. We can do it.’’
He is loving being at Everton, his enjoyment and popularity confirmed from the moment in his first game when he made a key block on Chelsea’s Samuel Eto’o. “I needed that on my debut – for me and also for the fans. Everton fans might have been thinking ‘is he just here to jog around for a season’. I went into those games thinking I really have to put a big shift in and show the Everton fans I’m not here for a ride for one season. I’m here as a professional. I've wanted to show them I’d put in not just one performance giving 100 per cent but a full season giving 100 per cent.
“Everton fans don’t just come to watch the football. They are there for Everton, the club. They really believe in the history of the club. It's drilled through their families, through the years, about Everton. When I see them they say: ‘You’d better be signing next season!’ Every time! My answer is the same every time: ‘Hopefully! Hopefully!’ That’s a genuine answer.
“From day one, the manager said: ‘I’m not going to put any pressure on you throughout the season, we’ll have the conversation in the summer, see how the club feel about you, see how you feel about the club and take it from there.’ I’m more than halfway through the season now and it couldn’t have gone any better. It’s going to be a nice conversation to be having come the end of the season.’’
Barry hopes for a busy summer. “The World Cup was not in my mind when the manager (Martinez) came into my house. I didn’t feature for England last season. Roy Hodgson’s impression of me was training for 10 days, half a game (his 53rd cap, against Norway before Euro 2012) and I came off with a hernia. It was not good in the back of his mind about Gareth Barry in terms of what he’s seen close up. But the manager (Martinez) came to my house and said: ‘I believe if you play for us we'll get you back in the team for the World Cup’.
“In the last six weeks I’ve had more headlines than I did at City in four years. It’s because the manager speaks so highly of me, believes in me, and isn’t frightened to tell everyone as well. I’ve also got to give myself some credit as well!’’ Barry’s certainly playing well, building a good midfield partnership with James McCarthy. “He’s been brilliant to play alongside. For someone who’s only 22, he really understands the game. I feel I’m playing alongside who’s played as many games as myself (634 club).’’
Barry himself has rarely played better. Surely England selection should be based on form? “It should be,’’ replied Barry. “It’s mad. I score a good goal (against Norwich City) and I feel everyone is calling for me to play for England. It’s just crazy how football works like that. The more people have mentioned it, the more I start thinking about it. I’m not going to turn down a call for England if it comes. I've maximum belief that if called upon I can do a job for England. I have that real belief inside me. I’d like to think I’m not too far away from being one of the better players in the set-up at the minute.’’
He knows the captain, Steven Gerrard, well. The pair made their international debuts against Ukraine in 2000 and then shared a sitting-room area in the England hotel at the ensuing Euros. “He wanted to get an adjoining room so he wouldn’t get stuck on his own,’’ recalled Barry. “That’s when we really bonded close together. Although he was homesick he was still really confident of himself. He said to me: ‘How many England caps do you think you’re going to get?’ I said: ‘Probably 50.’ Stevie said: ‘I think I can go on and get 100’.’’
He and the Liverpool midfielder have talked occasionally down the years. “Not since I moved to Everton! He’s a great bloke, and a fantastic player. The times I’ve played for England with Stevie there’s a good balance there, a good partnership. But it’s the England manager’s decision.’’
Barry is convinced Everton’s 20-year-old attacking midfielder, Ross Barkley, will go to the World Cup. “He’s a big wild card England should use. In terms of natural ability and things he can do with the ball, Ross gives something different to what we’ve got in this country. People spoke about him playing deeper but from what I’ve seen No 10 has to be his position. He can keep improving. He’s so young. He’s perfect going into something as big as a World Cup as he won’t have any fears. He’ll just go out and do what he thinks is best.’’
Barry himself is a laid-back individual, not one to look back in anger, but a World Cup call would give him a chance to exorcise the ghost of that moment in Bloemfontein when Mesut Ozil sped away from him in 2010. “I was on the biggest stage in world football and it was a big moment in the game. Every time England play Germany, it's brought back up. When we played Arsenal this year, people were bringing up about me playing Ozil again and that moment is brought back up.
“We were outplayed by a good German team who've stepped up even another level from there. But we qualified for that World Cup in fantastic style. There were big hopes. But we stuttered through the group. Nobody was really firing, nobody really looked fit. It was a weird World Cup.’’
England’s players were going slowly stir-crazy in their high-security Rustenburg retreat. “It was a really strange set-up. We were too much away from the rest of what was going on in South Africa.
“The expectations of England winning the World Cup were too high. They’ve come down now. I’d go for Brazil to win this summer. They seem to be brushing teams aside and are playing in their own country. England have a difficult draw. Bryan Oviedo is from Costa Rica and there was a bit of banter when the draw was made. We told him: ‘In the last week in training this season, just be careful. We’ll be stepping up the tackles a bit more!’.’’
Barry will know by then whether he is in Hodgson’s plans. He will probably know when the squad for the March friendly with Denmark is announced. “If I’m not named in that friendly I’ll go and book my holidays.’’
