England Squad Depth Labelled 'Ridiculous' - Wales Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy says England's squad depth is so impressive that matchmakers would not pair them against the Welsh team.
The Welsh squad meet England in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has omitted the such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish out of his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"England have a incredible team, similar to France," the coach remarked.
"They have a transfer market value of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is £170m. Were you a fight promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy says making sure Wales can compete with the talented rivals is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "We don't go off values, but the reality is they have more than one team. They possess two, three, four and the French and other nations are similarly stacked. They have loads of great players and that's the honest truth."
"A defender was ruled out injured the recently and there's only two dozen others to choose from! They've got over sixty footballers. I wish Wales to be well-equipped like them."
These two nations last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, when England emerged as comfortable 3-0 winners in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the quarter-finals.
Southgate's successor is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and world club winner at the London club who has won domestic titles in France and his native Germany.
The Welsh boss was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded him at the German giants.
"He's an incredible coach - his achievements speak for themselves," he added.
"I possess a degree of insight because the team he departed I am familiar with individuals who have gone in there. I get a glimpse from that of how he works and it's very impressive. "
"His tactical detail is elite and I aimed to be up against that - observe how we adjust because he will. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to reach such heights."
Welsh Team List
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), King (the Toffees).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester - loaned by Stade Rennais), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Attackers: Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from the Reds), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
