Three Lions Team Strength Labelled 'Ridiculous' - Wales Boss Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: Wales vs England
Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
The Wales head coach says the English squad depth is so impressive that a boxing promoter wouldn't match them with the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men meet England in a friendly at the national stadium on this Thursday before their crucial qualifying match against Belgium next Monday.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has omitted the such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish out of his squad for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
"The English have a incredible squad, similar to the French," the coach remarked.
"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, Wales' is £170m. Were you a boxing promoter, you wouldn't put us together. That wouldn't be permitted."
Bellamy says making sure the Welsh team can compete with the talented opponents is a "driving force".
The Wales head coach added: "We do not rely on values, but the simple fact is England don't just have a single lineup. They have two, three, four and France and others have the same level. England have loads of great players and that's a fact."
"A defender went out injured the other day and there's only 24 more to choose from! They've got 60-odd footballers. I wish us to be well-equipped like them."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when England emerged as comfortable victors in a fixture before the previous England team made it to the last eight.
Southgate's successor is Tuchel, a Champions League and world club champion at Chelsea who has claimed domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his home country.
Bellamy was formerly an coach at Anderlecht and the English club to Kompany, who replaced him at the German giants.
"Tuchel's an outstanding manager - his record is proven," Bellamy noted.
"I possess some sort of understanding 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 very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I aimed to be up against that - observe how we adjust because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to get to such heights."
Wales Team Selection
Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Adam Davies (Sheffield Utd), Tom King (the Toffees).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff City), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Cullen (Swansea City), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by Liverpool), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff).
