England Squad Depth Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach states England's player pool is so impressive that matchmakers wouldn't match them against the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men face England in a friendly at the national stadium on Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next Monday.
England manager Tuchel has omitted the likes of Jude Bellingham, Foden and Grealish out of his selection for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against Latvia.
"England have a incredible team, similar to France," the coach said.
"England have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is 170 million. If you were a fight promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy says ensuring the Welsh team can compete with the talented rivals is a "driving force".
Bellamy added: "We don't go off values, but the reality is England don't just have a single lineup. They have two, three, four and the French and other nations are similarly stacked. England have many great players and that's the honest truth."
"A defender went out injured the recently and there are 24 more to choose from! They've got over sixty players. I'd love us to be well-equipped like them."
These two nations most recently met at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when the English emerged as comfortable 3-0 winners in a group match before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the last eight.
Southgate's successor is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup winner at the London club who has won domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his home country.
The Welsh boss was previously an assistant at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at the German giants.
"Tuchel's an incredible manager - his achievements speak for themselves," Bellamy noted.
"I have some sort of insight because the club he left I am familiar with individuals who have gone in there. I gain a bit of an insight there of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is top level and I wanted to be up against that - observe how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I'd love to get to that level."
Wales Squad List
Keepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (the Toffees).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by Liverpool), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff City).
