England Squad Strength Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy says England's player pool is so impressive that a boxing promoter would not match them with the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men meet England in a non-competitive match at Wembley on this Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium next Monday.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has left the such as Bellingham, Foden and Grealish out of his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"The English have a ridiculous team, like France," the coach remarked.
"They have a transfer market value of 1.4 billion pounds, Wales' is £170m. Were you a boxing promoter, you would not put us together. That wouldn't be permitted."
Bellamy explains making sure the Welsh team can face the star-studded rivals is a "key motivation".
Bellamy continued: "Our team don't go off values, but the reality is England have more than a single lineup. They possess multiple and France and others are similarly stacked. They have loads of great players and that's the honest truth."
"One right-back was ruled out with injury the recently and there are two dozen others to choose from! They have 60-odd players. I wish Wales to be well-equipped similarly."
These two nations most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the English emerged as comfortable 3-0 winners in a fixture before the previous England team made it to the quarter-finals.
Southgate's successor is Thomas Tuchel, a European and world club champion at Chelsea who has claimed domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his home country.
The Welsh boss was previously an assistant at Anderlecht and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded him at Bayern Munich.
"He's an outstanding manager - his achievements is proven," he noted.
"I have a degree of understanding because the club he left I am familiar with people who have joined. I get a glimpse from that of how he works and it's very impressive. "
"His tactical detail is elite and I aimed to be up against such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he will. I can learn from that. I'd love to get to that level."
Wales Squad List
Keepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (Everton).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester - on loan from Rennes), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City).
Attackers: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Mark Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff City).
