England Team Depth Called 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Manager Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach states England's squad depth is remarkable that matchmakers wouldn't pair them against his Wales side.
Bellamy's men meet England in a friendly at Wembley on this Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium next Monday.
National team coach Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Foden and Grealish out of his selection for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.
"England have a incredible squad, like the French," Bellamy remarked.
"England have a market valuation of ÂŁ1.4bn, ours is 170 million. If you were a boxing promoter, you wouldn't match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
He says ensuring the Welsh team can face the star-studded rivals is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "Our team don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is they have more than a single lineup. They have two, three, four and France and others are similarly stacked. They have loads of top talents and that's the honest truth."
"A defender went out injured the other day and there are 24 more to go! They've got 60-odd players. I wish us to be stacked like them."
These two nations last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when the English emerged as easy victors in a fixture before the previous England team reached the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has won domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his home country.
Bellamy was formerly an assistant at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded him at the German giants.
"He's an outstanding manager - his record speak for themselves," he noted.
"I possess a degree of insight because the team he departed I am familiar with individuals who have joined. I gain a bit of an insight there of his methods and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is top level and I wanted to be facing such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he will. I will get to learn from that. I'd love to get to such heights."
Wales Squad Selection
Keepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Adam Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (the Toffees).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Spurs), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Forest).
Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by the Reds), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).
