Three Lions Team Depth Called 'Absurd' - Wales Boss Craig Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy says the English squad depth is remarkable that matchmakers would not match them with his Wales side.
Bellamy's men meet England in a friendly at the national stadium on this Thursday before their important qualifying match against Belgium next Monday.
National team coach Thomas Tuchel has left the such as Bellingham, Foden and Grealish out of his selection for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"England have a incredible team, similar to the French," the coach remarked.
"They have a market valuation of £1.4bn, ours is 170 million. Were you a fight promoter, you would not put us together. That wouldn't be permitted."
He explains making sure Wales can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "We do not rely on market prices, but the simple fact is they have more than one team. They possess multiple and France and others are similarly stacked. They have loads of top talents and that's the honest truth."
"A defender was ruled out injured the other day and there are 24 more to choose from! They have 60-odd footballers. I'd love us to be well-equipped similarly."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup 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 Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has won league championships in France and his home country.
The Welsh boss was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at the German giants.
"He's an incredible coach - his achievements is proven," he added.
"I possess some sort of understanding because the team he departed I know people who have gone in there. I gain a bit of an insight there of his methods and it's very impressive. "
"His tactical detail is elite and I aimed to be facing that - observe how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I can learn from that. I aspire to reach that level."
Welsh Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (the Toffees).
Defenders: Ben Cabango (Swansea), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds United), Brooks (Bournemouth), Jordan James (Leicester - on loan from Rennes), Josh Sheehan (Bolton), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (Wrexham), Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Spurs), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
