England Squad Depth Called 'Absurd' - Wales Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Craig Bellamy says the English player pool is so impressive that a boxing promoter wouldn't pair them against the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men meet their neighbors in a non-competitive match at the national stadium on this Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.
National team coach Thomas Tuchel has omitted the such as Bellingham, Foden and Grealish from his selection for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against Latvia.
"England have a incredible team, like France," the coach said.
"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, Wales' is 170 million. Were you a boxing promoter, you wouldn't match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
He explains making sure Wales can face the talented rivals is a "key motivation".
Bellamy continued: "Our team do not rely on values, but the simple fact is they don't just have a single lineup. They have two, three, four and France and others are similarly stacked. England have loads of top talents and that's a fact."
"One right-back was ruled out with injury the recently and there are 24 more to choose from! They've got over sixty players. I wish Wales to be stacked similarly."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when England ran out easy victors in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side reached the last eight.
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.
Bellamy was previously an assistant at the Belgian side and the English club to Kompany, who succeeded him at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an incredible manager - his achievements is proven," he added.
"I have some sort of understanding because the team he departed I know people who have gone in there. I get a bit of an insight from that of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is elite and I aimed to be up against such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I can learn from that. I aspire to reach such heights."
Welsh Squad List
Keepers: Darlow (Leeds), Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (Everton).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Forest).
Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), Brooks (Bournemouth), Jordan James (Leicester - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by the Reds), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
