England Squad Depth Called 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Boss Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy says England's squad depth is remarkable that matchmakers would not pair them against his Wales side.
The Welsh squad face their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next Monday.
England manager Tuchel has omitted the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish from his squad for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"England have a ridiculous squad, similar to France," Bellamy said.
"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, ours is 170 million. Were you a fight promoter, you would not match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
He says making sure the Welsh team can face the star-studded opponents is a "driving force".
Bellamy continued: "We don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is England don't just have one team. They possess two, three, four and the French and other nations have the same level. They have loads of great players and that's a fact."
"A defender was ruled out injured the recently and there's only two dozen others to choose from! They have over sixty players. I'd love Wales 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 comfortable 3-0 winners in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side reached the last eight.
Southgate's successor is Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has won domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his native Germany.
Bellamy was previously an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who replaced him at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an incredible coach - his achievements speak for themselves," he added.
"I possess a degree of insight because the club he left I know people who have gone in there. I gain a glimpse there of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is elite and I wanted to be facing that - see how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I will get to learn from it. I'd love to reach such heights."
Welsh Squad Selection
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (Everton).
Defenders: Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff City), Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Attackers: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Spurs), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
