Three Lions Team Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Wales Boss Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 19:45 BST
The Wales head coach says the English player pool is remarkable that a boxing promoter would not pair them against the Welsh team.
The Welsh squad face England in a friendly at the national stadium on this Thursday before their crucial qualifying match against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Tuchel has left the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish from his squad for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"England have a incredible team, similar to the French," Bellamy remarked.
"They have a market valuation of £1.4bn, Wales' is 170 million. Were you a boxing promoter, you wouldn't put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."
Bellamy explains making sure the Welsh team can face the star-studded rivals is a "driving force".
The Wales head coach added: "We do not rely on values, but the reality is they don't just have one team. They have two, three, four and France and others are similarly stacked. England have many great players and that's a fact."
"A defender went out injured the other day and there's only 24 more to go! They have 60-odd players. I'd love us to be stacked like them."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, when the English emerged as comfortable 3-0 winners in a fixture before the previous England team reached the last eight.
The new manager is Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup winner at Chelsea who has won league championships in France and his native Germany.
The Welsh boss was previously an assistant at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who succeeded Tuchel at the German giants.
"He's an incredible coach - his record is proven," Bellamy noted.
"I have a degree of understanding because the team he departed I know people who have joined. I gain a bit of an insight from that of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is top level and I aimed to be facing that - observe how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to get to that level."
Welsh Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds), Davies (Sheffield United), King (the Toffees).
Defenders: Ben Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester City - on loan from Rennes), Josh Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by the Reds), Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).
