England Squad Strength Labelled 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Boss Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Craig Bellamy says England's player pool is remarkable that a boxing promoter wouldn't match them with the Welsh team.
The Welsh squad face their neighbors in a friendly at Wembley on Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Foden and Jack Grealish out of his squad for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"England have a ridiculous squad, like France," Bellamy remarked.
"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, Wales' is £170m. If you were a fight promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
He says making sure the Welsh team can face the talented rivals is a "driving force".
Bellamy continued: "We don't go off market prices, but the simple fact is they don't just have a single lineup. They have two, three, four and the French and other nations have the same level. They have many great players and that's a fact."
"One right-back was ruled out with injury the recently and there's only 24 more to choose from! They've got over sixty players. 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 the English ran out easy victors in a fixture before the previous England team made it to the quarter-finals.
Southgate's successor is Tuchel, a European and world club champion at the London club who has claimed domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his home country.
The Welsh boss was formerly an assistant at Anderlecht and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded him at the German giants.
"He's an outstanding manager - his achievements speak for themselves," he added.
"I possess a degree of insight because the team he departed I know people who have joined. I get a bit of an insight from that of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is elite and I aimed to be up against such a challenge - observe how we adjust because he adapts too. I can learn from that. I'd love to reach that level."
Wales Squad List
Keepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Adam Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (Everton).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford United), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - on loan from the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff City).
