England Team Depth Labelled 'Absurd' - Welsh Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 19:45 BST
The Wales head coach says England's squad depth is so impressive that a boxing promoter wouldn't match them against the Welsh team.
The Welsh squad meet their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium next Monday.
England manager Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish from his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"The English have a incredible squad, like the French," Bellamy said.
"They have a transfer market value of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is £170m. Were you a fight promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy explains ensuring the Welsh team can compete with the talented rivals is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach added: "Our team do not rely on values, but the reality is they don't just have a single lineup. They possess two, three, four and the French and other nations have the same level. They have many great players and that's a fact."
"A defender went out with injury the other day and there's only two dozen others to choose from! They have over sixty players. I wish Wales to be stacked like them."
These two nations most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when England emerged as comfortable victors in a group match before Gareth Southgate's side reached the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Tuchel, a European and world club winner at Chelsea who has won domestic titles in France and his native Germany.
Bellamy was previously an coach at the Belgian side and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who replaced him at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an outstanding manager - his achievements is proven," he added.
"I have a degree of understanding because the club he left I am familiar with individuals who have joined. I get a bit of an insight from that of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is top level and I wanted to be up against that - observe how we adjust because he will. I will get to learn from it. I aspire to get to such heights."
Wales Squad Selection
Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (the Toffees).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry City), B. Davies (Spurs), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Broadhead (Wrexham), Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford United), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from Liverpool), Brennan Johnson (Spurs), Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).
