England Squad Strength Labelled 'Ridiculous' - Wales Manager Bellamy
- Published
International friendly: Wales vs England
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick-off: 19:45 BST
The Wales head coach states England's squad depth is remarkable that matchmakers wouldn't match them with the Welsh team.
Bellamy's men meet England in a friendly at the national stadium on Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has left the such as Jude Bellingham, Foden and Grealish out of his squad for the Wales friendly and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.
"England have a ridiculous team, like the French," the coach said.
"They have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, ours is £170m. If you were a fight promoter, you wouldn't put us together. It wouldn't be allowed."
He explains making sure the Welsh team can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "driving force".
The Wales head coach added: "Our team don't go off values, but the reality is they don't just have one team. They have two, three, four and the French and others have the same level. They have loads of great players and that's the honest truth."
"A defender went out with injury the other day and there are two dozen others to go! They've got over sixty players. I wish us to be well-equipped similarly."
The neighbouring countries last faced each other at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when the English emerged as comfortable victors in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side reached the quarter-finals.
Southgate's successor is Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup winner at the London club who has won league championships in France and his native Germany.
Bellamy was previously an assistant at the Belgian side and the English club to Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
"He's an outstanding coach - his achievements is proven," he added.
"I have a degree of insight because the club he left I know individuals who have gone in there. I get a bit of an insight there of how he works and it's very impressive. "
"His strategic planning is top level and I wanted to be up against such a challenge - observe how we adjust because he will. I will get to learn from it. I'd love to get to that level."
Wales Team Selection
Keepers: Karl Darlow (Leeds United), Adam Davies (Sheffield United), Tom King (the Toffees).
Defenders: Cabango (Swansea), Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Spurs), Ronan Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City), Mepham (West Bromwich Albion), Rodon (Leeds United), Williams (Nottingham Forest).
Midfield: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (Bournemouth), Jordan James (Leicester - loaned by Stade Rennais), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).
Attackers: Nathan Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea City), Harris (Oxford United), Koumas (Birmingham - loaned by Liverpool), Johnson (Spurs), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham), I. Davies (Cardiff).
