England Squad Strength Labelled 'Absurd' - Welsh Boss Craig 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 remarkable that matchmakers would not match them against the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men face England in a non-competitive match 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, Phil Foden and Grealish from his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"The English have a ridiculous team, similar to France," Bellamy said.
"England have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, ours is 170 million. If you were a fight promoter, you wouldn't match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
He explains ensuring Wales can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "We don't go off values, but the reality is England don't just have a single lineup. They possess multiple and the French and others are similarly stacked. England have loads of great players and that's the honest truth."
"A defender was ruled out with injury the other day and there's only two dozen others to choose from! They've got 60-odd players. I wish us to be well-equipped like them."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, when the English emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a fixture before the previous England team made it to the last eight.
Southgate's successor is Tuchel, a Champions League and world club champion at the London club who has won domestic titles in France and his home country.
Bellamy was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an outstanding coach - his achievements speak for themselves," he noted.
"I possess some sort of understanding because the club he left I know individuals who have gone in there. I get a bit of an insight from that of his methods and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is elite and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I can learn from it. I'd love to get to that level."
Wales Squad Selection
Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds), Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (the Toffees).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds United), Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Mark Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from Liverpool), Johnson (Spurs), Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).
