Three Lions Team Strength Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: Wales vs England
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Craig Bellamy says England's squad depth is so impressive that matchmakers would not pair them with his Wales side.
The Welsh squad face their neighbors in a friendly at the national stadium on this Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium next Monday.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has omitted the such as Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish from his selection for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.
"England have a incredible team, similar to the French," the coach remarked.
"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, Wales' is £170m. Were you a fight promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
He explains making sure the Welsh team can face the talented opponents is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach added: "We don't go off values, but the reality is they have more than a single lineup. They possess multiple and the French and other nations are similarly stacked. England have many top talents and that's a fact."
"A defender went out with injury the recently and there are two dozen others to choose from! They've got over sixty players. I wish Wales to be well-equipped similarly."
These two nations last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when England ran out easy victors in a fixture before the previous England team made it to the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has won domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his home country.
Bellamy was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"He's an incredible manager - his record speak for themselves," Bellamy added.
"I possess a degree of insight because the team he departed I am familiar with individuals who have gone in there. I get a bit of an insight there of his methods and it's very impressive. "
"His tactical detail is top level and I wanted to be facing such a challenge - observe how you're going to adapt because he will. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to get to such heights."
Wales Squad Selection
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (the Toffees).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Stade Rennais), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Attackers: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from the Reds), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff City).
