Thierno Barry continued his great form for Everton against Leeds United – and his showing prompted praise from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Everton drew 1-1 with Leeds at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, coming from behind after a poor first-half saw James Justin open the scoring for the visitors.
Everton fans, who was your standout performer in the 1-1 draw with Leeds? 🤔
Leeds dominated the first 45, forcing David Moyes into action at the break.
He replaced Harrison Armstrong and Dwight McNeil with Jarrad Branthwaite and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and went with three at the back to match Leeds’ system.
That worked, and Everton equalised through Thierno Barry on 76 minutes.
It’s now four in five for the Frenchman – and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink gave an encouraging verdict after the game.
- READ MORE: Everton player ratings vs Leeds, Thierno Barry rescues Toffees but there’s one 2/10 after 1-1 draw
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink hails Thierno Barry’s work rate and makes prediction
Barry took a while to find his feet, but he is really starting to get comfortable now.
There is still a lot of room for improvement, that much is clear.
But what’s also clear is that Barry has a nose for goal and his endeavour is very admirable.
After last night’s game, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – on punditry duty for Sky – gave his assessment of Barry, and revealed he really loves his work rate in particular.
The Premier League legend is also convinced more goals will follow now that Barry is getting more comfortable.
He said (Sky Sports): “His personality is coming out. What is good about him is he works his socks off. He works really hard.
“Now, does everything come off? No. But he can get better at the simple things. The combination work, the holding of the ball, when to go into the space and when not to.
“But the good thing that he has is he’s got a nose for the goal. He’s got four in five. This goal he took really, really well. He’s going to score more goals – he needs to work on other things of the game.
Barry benefiting from David Moyes’ faith
It’s great to see Barry finally making an impact in the Premier League after a difficult start.
In those early weeks after signing from Villarreal, he rather looked like a fish out of water. But he was clearly adapting to the English game.
How impressed were you with Thierno Barry vs Leeds United? 👏
He is very much still in the adaptation phase, but Barry is undoubtedly more comfortable – and he is benefitting from the show of faith Moyes has given him.
There will be games this season when things don’t come off for him, and he will frustrate.
But Barry deserves patience as he genuinely has huge potential – the verdict from Hasselbaink – who knew a thing or two about scoring goals in the Premier League – is a further suggestion of that.
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