England Team Depth Labelled 'Ridiculous' - Wales Manager Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Craig Bellamy says England's player pool is so impressive that matchmakers wouldn't pair them with the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men face England in a non-competitive match at the national stadium on this Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has left the such as Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish from his selection for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.
"The English have a ridiculous team, similar to the French," the coach said.
"They have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, Wales' is £170m. If you were a fight promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
He explains making sure Wales can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "key motivation".
Bellamy added: "Our team don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is England don't just have a single lineup. They have multiple and the French and other nations are similarly stacked. England have loads of top talents and that's the honest truth."
"A defender went out injured the recently and there are 24 more to go! They have 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 emerged as easy victors in a group match before the previous England team reached the last eight.
The new manager is Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup champion at the London club who has claimed domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his native Germany.
Bellamy was previously an assistant at the Belgian side and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an outstanding manager - his achievements speak for themselves," Bellamy added.
"I have some sort of understanding because the club he left I know people who have joined. I gain a glimpse from that of how he works and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is top level and I aimed to be up against that - observe how you're going to adapt because he will. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to get to such heights."
Wales Team Selection
Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (Everton).
Defenders: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Forest).
Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (Bournemouth), Jordan James (Leicester City - loaned by Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by Liverpool), Johnson (Spurs), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).
