England Squad Strength Called 'Absurd' - Wales Manager Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: Wembley Stadium, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Craig Bellamy states England's player pool is remarkable that a boxing promoter would not match them against the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men meet England in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Foden and Grealish out of his squad for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"The English have a ridiculous squad, like the French," Bellamy remarked.
"England have a transfer market value of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is 170 million. Were you a boxing promoter, you would not put us together. That wouldn't be permitted."
He says making sure Wales can compete with the talented opponents is a "driving force".
Bellamy continued: "We don't go off market prices, but the reality is England have more than a single lineup. They possess two, three, four and France and other nations are similarly stacked. They have many top talents and that's a fact."
"A defender went out with injury the recently and there's only two dozen others to go! They have over sixty footballers. I'd love us to be stacked similarly."
These two nations last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, when the English ran out comfortable victors in a group match before the previous England team made it to the last eight.
Southgate's successor is Thomas Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup winner at Chelsea who has won league championships in France and his native Germany.
The Welsh boss was previously an coach at the Belgian side and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at the German giants.
"Tuchel's an incredible manager - his record is proven," he noted.
"I possess a degree of insight because the team he departed I am familiar with people who have joined. I get a bit of an insight there of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is top level and I aimed to be facing that - observe how we adjust because he adapts too. I will get to learn from it. I'd love to get to such heights."
Welsh Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield United), King (the Toffees).
Defenders: Ben Cabango (Swansea), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff City), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Broadhead (Wrexham), Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from the Reds), Johnson (Spurs), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).
