Three Lions Team Strength Called 'Absurd' - Welsh Boss Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: Wales vs England
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST
The Wales head coach says England's 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 Wembley on Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next Monday.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has omitted the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Grealish out of his selection for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.
"The English have a incredible team, like France," the coach said.
"England have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, ours is £170m. Were you a fight promoter, you would not put us together. That wouldn't be permitted."
Bellamy says ensuring the Welsh team can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "driving force".
Bellamy added: "Our team do not rely on values, but the reality is England don't just have a single lineup. They have two, three, four and France and other nations are similarly stacked. England have loads of great players and that's the honest truth."
"One right-back was ruled out with injury the other day and there are 24 more to choose from! They've got over sixty players. I'd love Wales to be stacked like them."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in the Middle East, when England ran out easy 3-0 winners in a group match before Gareth Southgate's side reached the last eight.
Southgate's successor is Thomas Tuchel, a European and world club champion at the London club who has won domestic titles in France and his home country.
Bellamy was previously an coach at the Belgian side and the English club to Kompany, who replaced him at Bayern Munich.
"Tuchel's an outstanding coach - his record speak for themselves," Bellamy added.
"I have some sort of understanding because the club he left I am familiar with individuals who have joined. I gain a bit of an insight from that of how he works and it's remarkable. "
"His strategic planning is elite and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - observe how we adjust because he adapts too. I will get to learn from that. I aspire to get to that level."
Welsh Squad Selection
Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (the Toffees).
Backline: Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry City), B. Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Brom), Joe Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (Bournemouth), Jordan James (Leicester - loaned by Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton), Sorba Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), R. Colwill (Cardiff).
Forwards: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Mark Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff City).
