England Squad Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Wales Manager Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Craig Bellamy says the English squad depth is so impressive that matchmakers wouldn't match them with his Wales side.
Bellamy's men face England in a friendly at the national stadium on this Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has left the likes of Bellingham, Foden and Jack Grealish from his selection for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"England have a incredible team, like France," Bellamy said.
"They have a market valuation of £1.4bn, ours is £170m. Were you a fight promoter, you would not match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
He explains ensuring Wales can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "driving force".
The Wales head coach continued: "Our team don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is they have more than one team. They have two, three, four and the French and others have the same level. They have loads of great players and that's the honest truth."
"One right-back went out injured the recently and there are two dozen others to choose from! They've got 60-odd footballers. I'd love Wales to be stacked like them."
These two nations last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, when England ran out easy 3-0 winners in a group match before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup winner at Chelsea who has won league championships in France and his home country.
Bellamy was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at the German giants.
"Tuchel's an outstanding manager - his record speak for themselves," he noted.
"I possess a degree of understanding because the team he departed I am familiar with individuals who have joined. I get a bit of an insight there of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I'd love to get to such heights."
Wales Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield United), King (the Toffees).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry City), B. Davies (Spurs), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester - loaned by Rennes), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (Wrexham), Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from the Reds), Johnson (Spurs), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).
