England Squad Depth Labelled 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Manager Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
Venue: Wembley Stadium, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach states the English player pool is remarkable that matchmakers would not pair them with the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men meet England in a friendly at Wembley on Thursday before their important qualifying match against Belgium next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has omitted the such as Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish from his squad for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against Latvia.
"The English have a incredible team, similar to France," Bellamy said.
"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, Wales' is £170m. Were you a fight promoter, you would not match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
He explains making sure the Welsh team can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach added: "Our team don't go off market prices, but the reality is England have more than a single lineup. They have multiple and France and other nations have the same level. They have loads of top talents and that's the honest truth."
"A defender went out with injury the other day and there's only two dozen others to choose from! They've got 60-odd footballers. I wish us to be stacked similarly."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when England emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Tuchel, a Champions League and world club champion at Chelsea who has won league championships in Ligue 1 and his home country.
Bellamy was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and the English club to Kompany, who replaced him at Bayern Munich.
"He's an incredible manager - his record is proven," Bellamy noted.
"I have a degree of understanding because the club he left I am familiar with people who have gone in there. I gain a glimpse from that of how he works and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is top level and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - observe how we adjust because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to reach such heights."
Wales Team Selection
Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (the Toffees).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester - on loan from Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford United), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by Liverpool), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).