England Squad Depth Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Boss Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy says England's player pool is so impressive that a boxing promoter wouldn't match them with his Wales side.
The Welsh squad face their neighbors in a non-competitive match at the national stadium on this Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has left the such as Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish from his squad for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"The English have a incredible squad, similar to the French," Bellamy remarked.
"They have a market valuation of £1.4bn, ours is £170m. Were you a fight promoter, you would not put us together. That wouldn't be permitted."
Bellamy says ensuring the Welsh team can compete with the talented opponents is a "key motivation".
Bellamy added: "Our team don't go off market prices, but the reality is England don't just have one team. They have multiple and France and other nations are similarly stacked. England have many great players and that's a fact."
"A defender went out with injury the recently and there are 24 more to go! They have 60-odd players. I'd love us to be well-equipped like them."
These two nations most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, when the English ran out comfortable victors in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side reached the last eight.
The new manager is Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has claimed domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his home country.
The Welsh boss was previously an coach at Anderlecht and the English club to Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an incredible manager - his record speak for themselves," Bellamy noted.
"I possess some sort of insight because the team he departed I know individuals who have joined. I gain a bit of an insight there of how he works and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is top level and I aimed to be up against such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he will. I will get to learn from that. I'd love to reach such heights."
Welsh Squad Selection
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (Everton).
Defenders: Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from the Reds), Johnson (Spurs), Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).
