England Team Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Wales Manager Bellamy
- Published
Friendly match: England v Wales
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST
The Wales head coach states the English squad depth is so impressive that matchmakers wouldn't pair them with his Wales side.
The Welsh squad meet England in a non-competitive match at the national stadium on this Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next Monday.
National team coach Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Foden and Jack Grealish out of his squad for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.
"England have a ridiculous team, like France," the coach said.
"England have a market valuation of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is £170m. Were you a boxing promoter, you wouldn't match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."
He explains making sure the Welsh team can face the star-studded opponents is a "key motivation".
The Wales head coach continued: "Our team do not rely on values, but the reality is England have more than one team. They have two, three, four and the French and others are similarly stacked. England have loads of top talents and that's the honest truth."
"One right-back was ruled out injured the other day and there's only two dozen others to go! They have over sixty footballers. I'd love Wales to be stacked similarly."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the English ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in a fixture before the previous England team made it to the last eight.
The new manager is Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at the London club who has claimed league championships in France and his native Germany.
Bellamy was previously an coach at the Belgian side and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who replaced him at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an incredible manager - his achievements is proven," he noted.
"I have a degree of understanding because the club he left I know people who have joined. I get a glimpse there of his methods and it's remarkable. "
"His tactical detail is top level and I wanted to be facing that - observe how you're going to adapt because he will. I can learn from that. I aspire to get to such heights."
Welsh Team Selection
Goalkeepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds), Davies (Sheffield United), King (Everton).
Defenders: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Jay Dasilva (Coventry), B. Davies (Spurs), Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), David Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester City - loaned by Stade Rennais), Josh Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Broadhead (Wrexham), Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford), Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from Liverpool), Johnson (Spurs), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
