England Team Depth Called 'Ridiculous' - Wales Manager Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy says the English player pool is so impressive that matchmakers would not match them with the Welsh team.
The Welsh squad face their neighbors in a friendly at Wembley on Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next Monday.
National team coach Thomas Tuchel has left the likes of Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish from his squad for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.
"The English have a incredible squad, similar to France," the coach remarked.
"They have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, ours is 170 million. If you were a boxing promoter, you wouldn't match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
Bellamy says ensuring the Welsh team can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "driving force".
The Wales head coach continued: "Our team don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is they don't just have a single lineup. They possess multiple and the French and others have the same level. They have many top talents and that's a fact."
"One right-back went out injured the recently and there are 24 more to go! They have 60-odd footballers. I'd love us to be well-equipped like them."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when England ran out easy 3-0 winners in a group match before Gareth Southgate's side reached the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Thomas Tuchel, a European and world club champion at the London club who has claimed league championships in Ligue 1 and his native Germany.
Bellamy was previously an coach at Anderlecht and the English club to Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at the German giants.
"Tuchel's an outstanding coach - his achievements speak for themselves," Bellamy added.
"I possess a degree of insight because the club he left I am familiar with people who have joined. I get a bit of an insight there of his methods and it's remarkable. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I aimed to be facing that - observe how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to reach that level."
Wales Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds), Adam Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (Everton).
Defenders: Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Spurs), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff City), Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (Wrexham), Cullen (Swansea City), Mark Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Spurs), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).
