Three Lions Team Strength Labelled 'Absurd' - Wales Boss Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: Wembley Stadium, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach states England's player pool is remarkable that a boxing promoter wouldn't match them with the Welsh team.
The Welsh squad face their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on this Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next the following week.
National team coach Thomas Tuchel has omitted the such as Jude Bellingham, Foden and Grealish from his selection for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against Latvia.
"The English have a incredible team, similar to France," the coach remarked.
"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, ours is £170m. Were you a boxing promoter, you wouldn't put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."
He explains ensuring the Welsh team can face the star-studded rivals is a "driving force".
Bellamy added: "Our team don't go off values, but the simple fact is England don't just have one team. They possess multiple and France and others are similarly stacked. England have many great players and that's the honest truth."
"One right-back was ruled out with injury the recently and there are two dozen others to go! They've got 60-odd players. I wish us to be well-equipped like them."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when the English ran out easy victors in a fixture before the previous England team reached the last eight.
The new manager is Tuchel, a European and world club champion at Chelsea who has claimed league championships in Ligue 1 and his native Germany.
Bellamy was previously an coach at the Belgian side and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded him at the German giants.
"Tuchel's an incredible coach - his achievements speak for themselves," Bellamy added.
"I possess a degree of understanding because the team he departed I am familiar with individuals who have joined. I gain a bit of an insight from that of his methods and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is top level and I wanted to be facing such a challenge - observe how we adjust because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to get to that level."
Welsh Squad Selection
Keepers: Darlow (Leeds), Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (the Toffees).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Spurs), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester - on loan from Stade Rennais), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from Liverpool), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).
