England Team Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Manager Bellamy

• Published 1 hour ago

Friendly match: Wales vs England

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

The Wales head coach states England's player pool is remarkable that a boxing promoter wouldn't match them against his Wales side.

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

National team coach Tuchel has omitted the likes of Bellingham, Foden and Grealish from his selection for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

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

"England have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, Wales' is £170m. If you were a boxing promoter, you would not match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."

He says ensuring the Welsh team can face the talented opponents is a "key motivation".

The Wales head coach added: "Our team do not rely on market prices, but the simple fact is England have more than a single lineup. They have multiple and the French and others have the same level. They have loads of great players and that's the honest truth."

"A defender was ruled out with injury the other day and there are two dozen others to choose from! They have 60-odd footballers. I wish us to be well-equipped like them."

These two nations most recently met at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when the English ran out comfortable victors in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side reached the quarter-finals.

The new manager is Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at the London club who has won domestic titles in Ligue 1 and his home country.

The Welsh boss was formerly an assistant at Anderlecht and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded him at the German giants.

"Tuchel's an incredible manager - his record is proven," Bellamy noted.

"I have a degree of understanding because the club he left I am familiar with individuals who have gone in there. I gain a bit of an insight from that of his methods and it's very impressive. "

"His strategic planning is elite and I aimed to be facing that - see how we adjust because he will. I can learn from that. I aspire to reach that level."

Keepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (Everton).

Backline: Ben Cabango (Swansea City), Dasilva (Coventry City), Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Kpakio (Cardiff City), Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff), Chris Mepham (West Brom), Rodon (Leeds United), Neco Williams (Forest).

Midfielders: Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke), Harry Wilson (Fulham), J. Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).

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