Three Lions Team Strength Labelled 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Boss Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: Wales vs England
Venue: Wembley Stadium, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach says England's player pool is remarkable that matchmakers would not pair them against the Welsh team.
The Welsh squad face England in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has left the such as Bellingham, Foden and Grealish out of his selection for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.
"The English have a incredible team, similar to the French," the coach remarked.
"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, ours is £170m. If you were a boxing promoter, you would not match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
He says making sure Wales can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "key motivation".
Bellamy added: "We don't go off market prices, but the reality is England don't just have one team. They possess multiple and the French and others have the same level. They have loads of top talents and that's a fact."
"A defender was ruled out with injury the recently and there's only two dozen others to choose from! They have over sixty footballers. I'd love us to be well-equipped like them."
These two nations most recently met at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when England emerged as comfortable victors in a fixture before the previous England team reached the last eight.
The new manager is Tuchel, a Champions League and world club champion at the London club who has claimed league championships in France and his home country.
The Welsh boss was formerly an assistant at the Belgian side and Burnley to Kompany, who replaced him at Bayern Munich.
"He's an outstanding manager - his record is proven," Bellamy added.
"I have a degree of insight because the team he departed I know individuals who have gone in there. I gain a glimpse there of how he works and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I wanted to be up against that - see how we adjust because he will. I can learn from it. I aspire to reach that level."
Wales Squad Selection
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (the Toffees).
Defenders: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff City), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester City - on loan from Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton), Sorba Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Attackers: Broadhead (Wrexham), Cullen (Swansea City), Mark Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by Liverpool), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).