England Squad Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Manager Craig Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
Craig Bellamy states England's player pool is remarkable that matchmakers would not match them against his Wales side.
Bellamy's men face their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium next Monday.
National team coach Tuchel has omitted the likes of Jude Bellingham, Foden and Grealish from his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.
"England have a incredible squad, similar to the French," the coach said.
"England have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, Wales' is 170 million. Were you a fight promoter, you wouldn't match us up. That wouldn't be permitted."
Bellamy says making sure Wales can face the star-studded rivals is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "We don't go off market prices, but the reality is they have more than one team. They possess multiple and France and others have the same level. They have loads of top talents and that's the honest truth."
"A defender was ruled out with injury the recently and there's only two dozen others to go! They've got 60-odd players. I wish Wales to be stacked similarly."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when England emerged as comfortable victors 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 winner at the London club who has won league championships in Ligue 1 and his native Germany.
The Welsh boss was previously an coach at Anderlecht and Burnley to Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an incredible coach - his record speak for themselves," he added.
"I possess some sort of understanding because the club he left I know people who have joined. I gain a glimpse there of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I wanted to be facing such a challenge - observe how you're going to adapt because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to get to such heights."
Wales Squad List
Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (Everton).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester City - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (Wrexham), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from Liverpool), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).
