Three Lions Squad Depth Labelled 'Absurd' - Wales Boss Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy states England's squad depth is so impressive that a boxing promoter would not match them with his Wales side.
The Welsh squad face their neighbors in a friendly at the national stadium on Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has left the such as Bellingham, Foden and Jack Grealish out of his squad for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"The English have a ridiculous team, like France," Bellamy said.
"They have a market valuation 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 ensuring Wales can face the star-studded rivals is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "We do not rely on values, but the reality is England don't just have one team. They possess multiple and France and other nations are similarly stacked. England have many top talents and that's a fact."
"A defender was ruled out injured the recently and there's only 24 more to choose from! They've got 60-odd footballers. I wish us to be well-equipped like them."
These two nations most recently met at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when England emerged as comfortable victors in a group match before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup winner at Chelsea who has claimed domestic titles in France and his native Germany.
The Welsh boss was previously an assistant at Anderlecht and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who replaced him at the German giants.
"He's an outstanding coach - his record speak for themselves," he noted.
"I have a degree of understanding because the club he left I know individuals who have joined. I get a bit of an insight from that of his methods and it's remarkable. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I wanted to be facing such a challenge - observe how you're going to adapt because he will. I will get to learn from it. I aspire to reach that level."
Wales Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds), Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (Everton).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry City), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by Liverpool), Johnson (Spurs), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).
