England Squad Strength Labelled 'Absurd' - Wales Boss Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: Wembley Stadium, 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 the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men meet their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has left the likes of Bellingham, Foden and Jack Grealish from his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"England have a ridiculous squad, like France," Bellamy said.
"England have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is £170m. Were you a fight promoter, you would not put us together. That wouldn't be permitted."
Bellamy says ensuring Wales can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "driving force".
Bellamy continued: "We don't go off market prices, but the reality is England don't just have one team. They possess two, three, four and the French and other nations have the same level. England have loads of great players and that's the honest truth."
"A defender went out with injury the recently and there are 24 more to choose from! They have 60-odd players. I'd love Wales to be stacked similarly."
These two nations last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the English emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a group match before Gareth Southgate's side reached the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has won league championships in France and his home country.
Bellamy was previously an coach at the Belgian side and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at the German giants.
"He's an outstanding coach - his achievements speak for themselves," Bellamy noted.
"I possess some sort of understanding because the club he left I am familiar with individuals who have gone in there. I gain a bit of an insight there of how he works and it's very impressive. "
"His tactical detail is top level and I wanted to be facing that - see how we adjust because he will. I can learn from it. I aspire to get to that level."
Welsh Team Selection
Keepers: Darlow (Leeds), Davies (Sheffield United), King (the Toffees).
Defenders: Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester - on loan from Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
