Three Lions Squad Strength Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Manager Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
The Wales head coach says England's player pool is so impressive that a boxing promoter wouldn't match them against his Wales side.
Bellamy's men meet their neighbors in a friendly at the national stadium on this Thursday before their important qualifying match against Belgium next Monday.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has left the such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish out of his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"The English have a incredible team, like France," the coach remarked.
"They have a market valuation of £1.4bn, ours is 170 million. If you were a boxing promoter, you would not match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
Bellamy explains making sure the Welsh team can compete with the talented opponents is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "Our team do not rely on market prices, but the simple fact is England don't just have a single lineup. They possess multiple and the French and other nations have the same level. England have loads of top talents and that's the honest truth."
"One right-back went out with injury the other day and there are 24 more to go! They've got over sixty players. I'd love us to be stacked similarly."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when the English emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a group match before the previous England team made it to the last eight.
Southgate's successor is Thomas Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup winner at Chelsea who has claimed league championships in France and his home country.
The Welsh boss was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who replaced him at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an incredible coach - his achievements is proven," Bellamy added.
"I possess some sort of insight because the team he departed I am familiar with people who have joined. I get a glimpse from that of his methods and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I wanted to be facing such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I'd love to get to that level."
Wales Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (the Toffees).
Defenders: Cabango (Swansea), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (Bournemouth), Jordan James (Leicester City - on loan from Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff City).
