England Team Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Manager Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
The Wales head coach says the English player pool is so impressive that matchmakers wouldn't pair them against his Wales side.
Bellamy's men meet England in a friendly at Wembley on this Thursday before their important qualifying match against Belgium next Monday.
National team coach Tuchel has left the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish out of his squad for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against Latvia.
"England have a incredible team, like France," the coach remarked.
"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, Wales' is 170 million. If you were a fight promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
He says ensuring Wales can compete with the talented opponents is a "driving force".
The Wales head coach continued: "Our team do not rely on values, but the simple fact is England don't just have a single lineup. They have two, three, four and the French and others have the same level. They have loads of top talents and that's the honest truth."
"A defender was ruled out injured the recently and there are two dozen others to go! They've got 60-odd players. I'd love us to be well-equipped similarly."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when the English emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a group match before the previous England team made it to the quarter-finals.
The new manager is Tuchel, a Champions League and world club winner at the London club who has claimed league championships in France and his native Germany.
Bellamy was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who replaced him at Bayern Munich.
"He's an incredible coach - his achievements speak for themselves," he noted.
"I possess a degree of insight because the club he left I am familiar with individuals who have joined. 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 wanted to be up against such a challenge - observe how you're going to adapt because he will. I can learn from that. I'd love to reach that level."
Welsh Team List
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), King (Everton).
Defenders: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Spurs), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff City), Lawlor (Cardiff), Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester City - on loan from Stade Rennais), Josh Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Spurs), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
