England Squad Strength Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Manager Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy states England's player pool is remarkable that a boxing promoter would not pair 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 Monday.
National team coach Thomas Tuchel has omitted the such as Bellingham, Foden and Grealish from his squad for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"The English have a ridiculous squad, like the French," the coach remarked.
"England have a transfer market value of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is £170m. Were you a boxing promoter, you wouldn't put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy says ensuring the Welsh team can face the star-studded opponents is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "We do not rely on market prices, but the simple fact is England don't just have one team. They have multiple and France and others have the same level. They have loads of top talents and that's a fact."
"One right-back went out with injury the other day and there's only 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 tournament in the Middle East, when England ran out easy 3-0 winners in a fixture before the previous England team made it to the last eight.
Southgate's successor is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has won league championships in Ligue 1 and his home country.
Bellamy was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and the English club to Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at the German giants.
"Tuchel's an outstanding coach - his record is proven," Bellamy noted.
"I possess a degree of insight because the team he departed I know individuals who have joined. I get a glimpse from that of how he works and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I aimed to be up against such a challenge - observe how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I can learn from it. I aspire to get to that level."
Welsh Team List
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield United), King (Everton).
Defenders: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Forest).
Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester - loaned by Rennes), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).
