England Squad Depth Called 'Absurd' - Wales Manager Craig Bellamy

• Published 1 hour ago

International friendly: Wales vs England

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST

Craig Bellamy says the English player pool is remarkable that matchmakers would not pair them with his Wales side.

The Welsh squad face their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on this Thursday before their important qualifying match against the Belgians next Monday.

National team coach Tuchel has omitted the such as Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish out of his squad for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.

"The English have a incredible squad, like the French," Bellamy remarked.

"England have a market valuation of £1.4bn, Wales' is £170m. If you were a boxing promoter, you wouldn't put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."

He says ensuring Wales can face the star-studded rivals is a "key motivation".

Bellamy continued: "We do not rely on market prices, but the simple fact is England have more than a single lineup. They have multiple and France and others are similarly stacked. England have many great players and that's the honest truth."

"One right-back went out injured the recently and there's only 24 more to go! They have over sixty footballers. I'd love us to be well-equipped similarly."

The neighbouring countries most recently met at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when the English emerged as comfortable 3-0 winners in a group match before Gareth Southgate's side reached the quarter-finals.

Southgate's successor is Tuchel, a European and Fifa Club World Cup champion at Chelsea who has won league championships in France and his home country.

The Welsh boss was previously an coach at the Belgian side and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who replaced him at the German giants.

"He's an outstanding coach - his record is proven," Bellamy noted.

"I possess a degree of understanding because the team he departed I am familiar with people who have gone in there. I get a bit of an insight there of his methods and it's remarkable. "

"His strategic planning is elite and I aimed to be facing such a challenge - see how you're going to adapt because he will. I can learn from it. I'd love to reach that level."

Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), King (Everton).

Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff), Lawlor (Cardiff City), Chris Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Rodon (Leeds), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest).

Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (the Cherries), Jordan James (Leicester - on loan from Stade Rennais), Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke City), Harry Wilson (Fulham), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff City).

Forwards: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Mark Harris (Oxford), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham - on loan from the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Spurs), Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).