England Team Strength Labelled 'Absurd' - Wales Manager Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: Wales vs England
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach says England's player pool is remarkable that a boxing promoter would not pair them with his Wales side.
Bellamy's men meet England in a non-competitive match at the national stadium on Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next Monday.
National team coach Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Phil 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 remarked.
"They have a market valuation of £1.4bn, ours is 170 million. Were you a boxing promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy explains ensuring the Welsh team can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "Our team don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is England have more than a single lineup. They have two, three, four and France and other nations have the same level. England have many great players and that's the honest truth."
"A defender was ruled out with injury the recently and there are 24 more to choose from! They've got over sixty footballers. I wish us to be stacked similarly."
The neighbouring countries 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 last eight.
Southgate's successor is Thomas Tuchel, a European and world club champion at the London club who has claimed league championships in France and his native Germany.
The Welsh boss was formerly an assistant at the Belgian side and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an outstanding coach - his achievements speak for themselves," he added.
"I possess a degree of understanding because the team he departed I am familiar with individuals who have gone in there. I get a glimpse from that of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I aimed to be facing such a challenge - observe how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I can learn from it. I aspire to reach that level."
Wales Squad List
Keepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (the Toffees).
Defenders: Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester - loaned by Stade Rennais), Josh Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by Liverpool), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).
