England Squad Strength Labelled 'Absurd' - Wales Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: Wales vs England
Venue: Wembley Stadium, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach states the English squad depth is remarkable that matchmakers would not pair them with his Wales side.
The Welsh squad face their neighbors in a non-competitive match at the national stadium on this Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next Monday.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has left the such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish from his selection for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against Latvia.
"England have a ridiculous squad, like France," Bellamy remarked.
"England have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, Wales' is 170 million. If you were a boxing promoter, you wouldn't match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
He explains making sure Wales can face the talented opponents is a "key motivation".
Bellamy continued: "We do not rely on market prices, but the simple fact is England have more than one team. They have two, three, four and France and other nations have the same level. England have many great players and that's a fact."
"One right-back was ruled out with injury the other day and there are 24 more to go! They've got over sixty players. I'd love Wales to be well-equipped like them."
These two nations most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when England ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in a fixture before the previous England team reached the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Thomas Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup winner at the London club who has won domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his native Germany.
Bellamy was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded him at Bayern Munich.
"He's an outstanding coach - his record speak for themselves," Bellamy added.
"I have a degree of understanding because the club he left I know individuals who have gone in there. I gain a bit of an insight from that of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His strategic planning is top level 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'd love to get to such heights."
Wales Squad List
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (Everton).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford United), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff City).
