England Squad Strength Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Manager Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach says England's squad depth is so impressive that matchmakers wouldn't pair them against his Wales side.
The Welsh squad face England in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against Belgium next Monday.
England manager Tuchel has omitted the such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish out of his squad for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"England have a ridiculous squad, similar to the French," the coach said.
"They have a market valuation of £1.4bn, ours is £170m. If you were a fight promoter, you would not match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
Bellamy says ensuring the Welsh team can face the talented rivals is a "driving force".
The Wales head coach continued: "Our team don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is they don't just have one team. They have multiple and the French and others have the same level. They have loads of top talents and that's a fact."
"A defender went out injured the other day and there's only two dozen others to go! They have over sixty players. I wish Wales to be well-equipped similarly."
These two nations most recently met at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when the English ran out easy victors in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the last eight.
The new manager is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and world club winner at Chelsea who has won league championships in France and his home country.
Bellamy was formerly an assistant at the Belgian side and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an incredible manager - his achievements is proven," Bellamy added.
"I possess a degree of insight because the team he departed I am familiar with people who have joined. I get a glimpse there of his methods and it's very impressive. "
"His tactical detail is elite and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he will. I can learn from it. I aspire to reach such heights."
Welsh Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield United), King (Everton).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds United), Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Broadhead (Wrexham), Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by Liverpool), Brennan Johnson (Spurs), Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).
