Three Lions Team Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Wales Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach states the English squad depth is remarkable that a boxing promoter wouldn't match them with the Welsh team.
The Welsh squad face their neighbors in a friendly at the national stadium on Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against Belgium next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has left the such as Bellingham, Foden and Grealish from his squad for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"The English have a incredible squad, similar to France," Bellamy remarked.
"England have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, Wales' is £170m. If you were a fight promoter, you wouldn't put us together. That wouldn't be permitted."
He says ensuring the Welsh team can face the talented opponents is a "key motivation".
Bellamy added: "We do not rely on values, but the reality is they don't just have a single lineup. They have multiple and the French and others have the same level. They have loads of great players and that's the honest truth."
"One right-back was ruled out injured the other day and there are two dozen others to choose from! They have 60-odd footballers. I wish Wales to be well-equipped like them."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, when England emerged as easy victors in a group match before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the last eight.
Southgate's successor is Tuchel, a Champions League and world club champion at the London club who has won league championships in France and his native Germany.
Bellamy was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and the English club to Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"He's an outstanding coach - his achievements is proven," he added.
"I possess a degree of understanding because the team he departed I know individuals who have gone in there. I get a bit of an insight from that of how he works and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is top level and I aimed to be up against such a challenge - observe how we adjust because he will. I will get to learn from it. I aspire to reach such heights."
Welsh Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (Everton).
Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff City), Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester - on loan from Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City).
Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Spurs), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).
