Three Lions Team Depth Labelled 'Absurd' - Welsh Boss Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy says the English player pool is so impressive that matchmakers wouldn't match them against the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men meet their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium next Monday.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has omitted the such as Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish out of his selection for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"The English have a incredible squad, like France," the coach said.
"They have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, Wales' is £170m. If you were a boxing promoter, you would not match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy explains making sure Wales can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "driving force".
The Wales head coach continued: "We don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is they don't just have a single lineup. They possess multiple and the French and other nations are similarly stacked. They have loads of top talents and that's a fact."
"One right-back was ruled out injured the recently and there's only 24 more to go! They've got over sixty footballers. I'd love Wales to be well-equipped like them."
The neighbouring countries most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, when the English emerged as comfortable 3-0 winners in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side reached the last eight.
The new manager is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has won domestic titles in France and his native Germany.
The Welsh boss was formerly an coach at the Belgian side and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at the German giants.
"Tuchel's an incredible coach - his record is proven," Bellamy added.
"I have a degree of insight because the team he departed I know individuals who have joined. I gain a glimpse there of his methods and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - observe how you're going to adapt because he will. I can learn from it. I'd love to reach that level."
Welsh Squad List
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds), Adam Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (the Toffees).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester - loaned by Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Attackers: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from the Reds), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).
