England Team Depth Called 'Absurd' - Wales Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
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 so impressive that a boxing promoter wouldn't pair them with 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.
England manager Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish out of his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"The English have a incredible squad, like France," Bellamy said.
"They have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, Wales' is 170 million. If you were a fight promoter, you wouldn't put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy says ensuring the Welsh team can compete with the talented opponents is a "key motivation".
Bellamy added: "Our team don't go off values, but the reality is England don't just have a single lineup. They have two, three, four and France and others are similarly stacked. They have many top talents and that's the honest truth."
"A defender was ruled out with injury the recently and there's only two dozen others to choose from! They've got over sixty players. I wish us to be well-equipped similarly."
These two nations last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when England ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in a fixture before the previous England team reached the last eight.
The new manager is Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup champion at the London club who has claimed league championships in Ligue 1 and his native Germany.
The Welsh boss was previously an coach at Anderlecht and the English club to Kompany, who succeeded him at Bayern Munich.
"He's an incredible coach - his achievements is proven," he added.
"I have some sort of insight because the team he departed I am familiar with people who have joined. I gain a glimpse there of his methods and it's very impressive. "
"His tactical detail is elite 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 aspire to get to that level."
Welsh Squad Selection
Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds), Davies (Sheffield United), King (Everton).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Rennes), Josh Sheehan (Bolton), Sorba Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).
Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
