England Team Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Manager Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy states England's squad depth is so impressive that matchmakers would not match them with his Wales side.
Bellamy's men meet England in a friendly at the national stadium on this Thursday before their important qualifying match against Belgium next Monday.
National team coach Tuchel has omitted the such as Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish from his selection for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.
"The English have a ridiculous team, similar to France," Bellamy said.
"England have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is £170m. Were you a boxing promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy explains making sure the Welsh team can face the star-studded rivals is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach added: "We don't go off market prices, but the reality is they have more than a single lineup. They possess multiple and France and others are similarly stacked. They have many top talents and that's the honest truth."
"A defender was ruled out injured the other day and there are 24 more to go! They've got 60-odd players. I wish us to be well-equipped like them."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when England ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in a group match before the previous England team made it to the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup winner at the London club who has claimed league championships in France and his home country.
Bellamy was formerly an assistant at Anderlecht and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at the German giants.
"He's an incredible coach - his achievements is proven," he added.
"I possess a degree of understanding because the team he departed I am familiar with people who have gone in there. I get a bit of an insight from that of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is elite and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - see how we adjust because he will. I can learn from it. I'd love to reach such heights."
Wales Team Selection
Keepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Adam Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (the Toffees).
Defenders: Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry City), B. Davies (Spurs), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Forest).
Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester City - on loan from Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City).
Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (Wrexham), Cullen (Swansea City), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by the Reds), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).
