England Squad Strength Labelled 'Absurd' - Wales Boss Bellamy

• Published 1 hour ago

International friendly: England v Wales

Venue: London's Wembley, London Date: October 9th Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Craig Bellamy states England's player pool is remarkable that a boxing promoter wouldn't pair them with his Wales side.

The Welsh squad meet their neighbors in a non-competitive match at Wembley on Thursday before their crucial qualifying match against the Belgians next the following week.

England manager Thomas Tuchel has omitted the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish from his selection for the Wales friendly and their World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

"The English have a incredible team, similar to the French," Bellamy said.

"They have a market valuation of £1.4bn, ours is 170 million. If you were a boxing promoter, you wouldn't put us together. That wouldn't be permitted."

Bellamy 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 two, three, four and France and others are similarly stacked. England have many great players and that's the honest truth."

"A defender went out injured the recently and there's only 24 more to choose from! They have 60-odd footballers. I'd love us to be stacked similarly."

The neighbouring countries most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, when England ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in a fixture before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the quarter-finals.

The new manager is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and world club winner at the London club who has claimed league championships in France and his native Germany.

The Welsh boss was previously an coach at the Belgian side and the English club to Vincent Kompany, who replaced Tuchel at Bayern Munich.

"He's an incredible coach - his record speak for themselves," Bellamy noted.

"I possess a degree of insight because the club he left I know people who have gone in there. I get a glimpse there of his methods and it's very impressive. "

"His strategic planning is top level and I aimed to be up against that - observe how we adjust because he adapts too. I can learn from that. I'd love to get to that level."

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

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

Midfielders: Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - loaned by Rennes), Sheehan (Bolton), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), J. Colwill (Cardiff), Rubin Colwill (Cardiff).

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