England Squad Strength Called 'Absurd' - Wales Manager Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: Wales vs England
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
The Wales head coach says the English squad depth is so impressive that a boxing promoter wouldn't pair them against the Welsh team.
The Welsh squad face England in a non-competitive match at the national stadium on this Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next Monday.
National team coach Tuchel has omitted the such as Bellingham, Foden and Grealish out of his squad for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.
"The English have a ridiculous team, similar to France," Bellamy said.
"They have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, Wales' is £170m. If you were a boxing promoter, you wouldn't put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy says making sure Wales can face the star-studded rivals is a "driving force".
Bellamy continued: "Our team don't go off values, but the simple fact is England don't just have one team. They have two, three, four and France and others have the same level. England have many great players and that's a fact."
"A defender went out injured the other day and there's only 24 more to choose from! They have over sixty footballers. I'd love us to be well-equipped similarly."
The neighbouring countries most recently met at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when the English ran out comfortable victors in a group match before the previous England team reached the last eight.
The new manager is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at the London club who has won league championships in Ligue 1 and his native Germany.
The Welsh boss was previously an coach at the Belgian side and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at the German giants.
"Tuchel's an outstanding coach - his record speak for themselves," Bellamy noted.
"I possess a degree of understanding because the team he departed I am familiar with individuals who have gone in there. I gain a bit of an insight from that of his methods and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is elite and I wanted to be up against that - observe how you're going to adapt because he will. I can learn from that. I'd love to reach that level."
Wales Squad List
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds), Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (Everton).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry City), B. Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff City), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester City - on loan from Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from Liverpool), Brennan Johnson (Spurs), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
