England Team Strength Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: Wembley Stadium, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Craig Bellamy says England's squad depth is remarkable that a boxing promoter would not pair them with his Wales side.
Bellamy's men meet their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next Monday.
National team coach Tuchel has omitted the such as Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish out of his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"The English have a ridiculous squad, like France," Bellamy remarked.
"England have a transfer market value of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is 170 million. Were you a boxing promoter, you would not match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
He explains ensuring Wales can compete with the star-studded rivals is a "key motivation".
Bellamy added: "We do not rely on market prices, but the simple fact is they don't just have a single lineup. They possess two, three, four and the French and other nations are similarly stacked. England have loads of top talents and that's a fact."
"A defender was ruled out injured the recently and there's only 24 more to choose from! They have 60-odd footballers. I'd love Wales to be well-equipped like them."
The neighbouring countries most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when England emerged as 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 European and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has claimed domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his native Germany.
The Welsh boss was previously an assistant at Anderlecht and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded him at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an incredible coach - his achievements speak for themselves," Bellamy added.
"I have some sort of insight because the club he left I know individuals who have joined. I get a glimpse there of his methods and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I wanted to be up against that - see how you're going to adapt because he will. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to reach such heights."
Welsh Team List
Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (Everton).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry City), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - on loan from Rennes), Josh Sheehan (Bolton), Sorba Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City).
Attackers: Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by Liverpool), Johnson (Spurs), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
