It is Valentine’s Day, and as a result, Everton asked several players what they love most about their teammates.
Thierno Barry was asked the question along with the likes of Adam Aznou, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and James Garner, hesitating for a while before answering “assists” in response with a cheeky grin.
It makes sense for a striker to love being supplied with chances, but the lack of service the Frenchman has received so far this season at Everton suggests he was potentially being flippant.
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The numbers which prove Thierno Barry needs more help
Barry missed several fantastic chances last time out in the 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth, but he can be forgiven due to a lack of practice when it comes to these moments in matches.
Everton rarely create chances for the France U21 international. Besides Jack Grealish, who created 2.1 chances every 90 minutes before a broken foot ended his season, James Garner is the next most creative player at Everton with 1.3 chances made per game.
It is not much – 18 players have created more chances than that in the Premier League this term – and as a team, Everton have only forged 47 goalscoring opportunities this season.
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Only six Premier League sides have created fewer chances, including all of the bottom three and the struggling Nottingham Forest.
When you focus on Barry – who was devastated after the loss to Bournemouth – as an individual, the figures on FOTMOB show that he is largely pulling his weight, scoring five goals with an xG (expected goals) return of 5.23, so he is roughly on the right track.
With all of these numbers taken into account, his response to Everton on Valentine’s Day may well suggest he wants more from his teammates in terms of chance creation.
The Bournemouth moment which suggests Thierno Barry is growing annoyed at a lack of service
If you keep a close eye on the 23-year-old during games, he does express frustration at this lack of service.
There was a moment during the 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth where Dewsbury-Hall had the chance to slot Barry through on goal, only to shy away from the option and pass backwards.
Barry then lost his temper a bit, waving his arms around and jumping to make the Everton No.22 aware that he was open.
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Jake O'Brien is sent off against Bournemouth.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
The more Everton players opt to ignore the £27m man, the more likely it is that he becomes annoyed and snatches at the chances which do fall at his feet, so this is certainly something for David Moyes to think about.
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