England Squad Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Boss Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach says the English player pool is remarkable that matchmakers wouldn't match them against his Wales side.
The Welsh squad meet their neighbors in a friendly at Wembley on this Thursday before their crucial qualifying match against Belgium next the following week.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has left the likes of Jude Bellingham, Foden and Jack Grealish out of his squad for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against Latvia.
"The English have a ridiculous squad, similar to the French," Bellamy said.
"They have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, Wales' is 170 million. If you were a fight promoter, you would not put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."
He says ensuring Wales can face the star-studded rivals is a "driving force".
The Wales head coach added: "We don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is they don't just have one team. They have two, three, four and the French and others have the same level. England have many top talents and that's the honest truth."
"One right-back was ruled out with injury the other day and there's only two dozen others to go! They've got 60-odd footballers. I wish Wales to be stacked like them."
These two nations most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the English emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Tuchel, a European and world club champion at the London club who has won league championships in Ligue 1 and his native Germany.
Bellamy was previously an coach at Anderlecht and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an outstanding coach - his achievements is proven," Bellamy added.
"I have a degree of understanding because the club he left I am familiar with people who have gone in there. I gain a glimpse there of his methods and it's remarkable. "
"His strategic planning is top level and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - see how we adjust because he adapts too. I will get to learn from it. I'd love to reach such heights."
Welsh Squad Selection
Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), King (the Toffees).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Forest).
Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (Bournemouth), Jordan James (Leicester City - on loan from Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Spurs), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
