England Team Depth Labelled 'Absurd' - Welsh Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy says the English squad depth is remarkable that a boxing promoter would not pair them with the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men face their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their important qualifying match against Belgium next the following week.
National team coach Thomas Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Foden and Grealish out of his squad for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against Latvia.
"The English have a ridiculous team, similar to France," the coach said.
"England have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is 170 million. Were you a fight promoter, you would not match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
He says making sure Wales can face the talented rivals is a "driving force".
The Wales head coach continued: "We do not rely on values, but the simple fact is England don't just have one team. They have two, three, four and the French and others have the same level. England have many great players and that's the honest truth."
"A defender went out with injury the other day and there are 24 more to go! They've got 60-odd players. I'd love us to be well-equipped similarly."
The neighbouring countries most recently met at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when England emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side reached the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has claimed league championships in Ligue 1 and his home country.
The Welsh boss was formerly an coach at the Belgian side and Burnley to Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"He's an outstanding manager - his achievements is proven," he noted.
"I have some sort of understanding because the club he left I am familiar with people 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 facing that - see how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I'd love to get to such heights."
Wales Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (the Toffees).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry City), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester - on loan from Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).
Attackers: Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from Liverpool), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
