England Squad Strength Called 'Ridiculous' - Welsh Boss Bellamy

• Published 1 hour ago

Friendly match: Wales vs England

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

Craig Bellamy says the English squad depth is so impressive that a boxing promoter wouldn't pair them against his Wales side.

Bellamy's men meet their neighbors in a friendly at Wembley on Thursday before their crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium next the following week.

National team coach Tuchel has left the likes of Jude Bellingham, Foden and Jack Grealish out of his selection for the match against Wales and their qualifying game against the Latvian team.

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

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

He explains making sure the Welsh team can compete with the star-studded opponents is a "key motivation".

Bellamy added: "Our team don't go off market prices, but the reality is they don't just have a single lineup. They have multiple and the French and others have the same level. England have loads of top talents and that's a fact."

"One right-back was ruled out injured the other day and there's only two dozen others to go! They've got 60-odd footballers. I'd love us to be stacked similarly."

The neighbouring countries most recently met at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when England emerged as easy 3-0 winners in a group match before Gareth Southgate's side made it to the last eight.

Southgate's successor is Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup champion at the London club who has won league championships in France and his home country.

The Welsh boss was formerly an assistant at the Belgian side and the English club to Kompany, who replaced him at the German giants.

"Tuchel's an incredible manager - his achievements speak for themselves," he added.

"I possess a degree of insight because the team he departed I am familiar with individuals who have joined. I gain a bit of an insight from that of his methods and it's remarkable. "

"His strategic planning is top level and I wanted to be up against that - observe how you're going to adapt because he will. I can learn from that. I aspire to get to that level."

Goalkeepers: Darlow (Leeds United), Davies (Sheffield Utd), King (the Toffees).

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

Midfield: Ampadu (Leeds United), David Brooks (Bournemouth), J. James (Leicester City - on loan from Stade Rennais), Josh Sheehan (Bolton Wanderers), Sorba Thomas (Stoke City), H. Wilson (the Cottagers), Joel Colwill (Cardiff), R. Colwill (Cardiff City).

Attackers: Broadhead (the Red Dragons), Liam Cullen (Swansea), Harris (Oxford United), Lewis Koumas (Birmingham City - loaned by the Reds), Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), Moore (Wrexham), Isaak Davies (Cardiff City).