England Squad Depth Labelled 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Boss Bellamy

• Published 1 hour ago

International friendly: England v Wales

Venue: London's Wembley, the capital Date: October 9th Kick-off: 7:45 PM BST

The Wales head coach says the English player pool is remarkable that matchmakers would not match them against the Welsh team.

Bellamy's men meet their neighbors in a friendly at the national stadium on Thursday before their important World Cup qualifier against the Belgians next the following week.

National team coach Thomas Tuchel has omitted the such as Bellingham, Foden and Jack Grealish from his squad for the match against Wales and their World Cup qualifier against the Latvian team.

"The English have a ridiculous squad, similar to France," Bellamy remarked.

"England have a transfer market value of 1.4 billion pounds, ours is 170 million. Were you a boxing promoter, you would not match us up. It wouldn't be allowed."

He says ensuring the Welsh team can compete with the talented rivals is a "key motivation".

Bellamy added: "Our team don't go off values, but the reality is England don't just have one team. They have multiple and France and others are similarly stacked. They have loads of top talents and that's the honest truth."

"A defender was ruled out with injury the other day and there's only two dozen others to go! They've got over sixty players. I'd love us to be well-equipped similarly."

These two nations most recently met at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when England ran out easy 3-0 winners in a group match before the previous England team reached the quarter-finals.

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

The Welsh boss was formerly an assistant at Anderlecht and Burnley to Vincent Kompany, who succeeded him at Bayern Munich.

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

"I possess a degree of understanding because the club he left I am familiar with individuals who have joined. I gain a glimpse there of his methods and it's remarkable. "

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

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

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

Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds), Brooks (the Cherries), J. James (Leicester City - on loan from Rennes), Josh Sheehan (Bolton), Thomas (Stoke), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff).

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