Three Lions Squad Strength Labelled 'Absurd' - Wales Manager Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: Wales vs England
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 19:45 BST
The Wales head coach says the English squad depth is remarkable that matchmakers would not match them against his Wales side.
The Welsh squad meet their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on this Thursday before their crucial qualifying match against the Belgians next Monday.
National team coach Thomas Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish from his selection for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"England have a ridiculous squad, similar to France," Bellamy said.
"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, Wales' is 170 million. If you were a boxing promoter, you would not match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy explains ensuring Wales can face the talented opponents is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "We do not rely on market prices, but the simple fact is they have more than one team. They have multiple and the French and others are similarly stacked. They have many great players and that's a fact."
"One right-back was ruled out injured the other day and there's only 24 more to go! They have over sixty players. I'd love Wales to be well-equipped like them."
The neighbouring countries most recently met at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when England emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Thomas Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has won domestic titles in France and his home country.
The Welsh boss was previously an assistant at the Belgian side and Burnley to Kompany, who replaced him at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an outstanding manager - his record is proven," he noted.
"I possess some sort of understanding because the club he left I am familiar with people who have gone in there. I get a glimpse there of his methods and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is top level and I aimed to be facing such a challenge - observe how you're going to adapt because he will. I can learn from that. I'd love to get to such heights."
Wales Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Adam Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (Everton).
Defenders: Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Spurs), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (Bournemouth), Jordan James (Leicester City - on loan from Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by Liverpool), Johnson (Spurs), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
