England Team Strength Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Manager Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy states the English player pool is so impressive that matchmakers would not match them with his Wales side.
The Welsh squad meet their neighbors in a friendly at Wembley on Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has left the such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish out of his selection for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"England have a incredible squad, similar to the French," Bellamy said.
"They have a market valuation of £1.4bn, Wales' is £170m. Were you a fight promoter, you wouldn't put us together. That wouldn't be permitted."
He explains making sure Wales can face the talented opponents is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "We do not rely on values, but the simple fact is England don't just have a single lineup. They have multiple and the French and other nations are similarly stacked. They have loads of top talents and that's a fact."
"A defender was ruled out injured the recently and there are two dozen others to go! They have 60-odd footballers. I'd love us to be well-equipped like them."
These two nations last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when the English ran out comfortable victors in a fixture before the previous England team reached the last eight.
The new manager is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and world club winner at Chelsea who has won league championships in Ligue 1 and his home country.
Bellamy was previously an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded him at the German giants.
"Tuchel's an outstanding manager - his record speak for themselves," he added.
"I have some sort of insight because the club he left I know individuals who have joined. I get a bit of an insight from that of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is top level and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - observe how we adjust because he will. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to reach that level."
Welsh Squad List
Keepers: Darlow (Leeds), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (Everton).
Defenders: Cabango (Swansea), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - on loan from Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).
