{"id":577022,"date":"2025-11-17T22:15:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T22:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/577022\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T22:15:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T22:15:18","slug":"craig-bellamy-explains-why-the-absence-of-leeds-uniteds-ethan-ampadu-is-not-a-problem-for-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/577022\/","title":{"rendered":"Craig Bellamy explains why the absence of Leeds United’s Ethan Ampadu is ‘not a problem’ for Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wales head coach Craig Bellamy has claimed that it is \u201cnot a problem\u201d for his side that Ethan Ampadu is unavailable for their crucial World Cup qualifier against North Macedonia. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ethan Ampadu<\/a> played 90 minutes for Wales in their 1-0 win over Liechtenstein as he helped to keep their World Cup qualifying hopes alive. <\/p>\n

Dan James sent a message<\/a> to Daniel Farke during the win, creating the winner, which was scored by Jordan James, as Wales go into their final qualifier in third place in the group, level on points with North Macedonia and just two points behind group leaders Belgium. <\/p>\n

However, Ampadu will be forced to sit out<\/a> Wales\u2019 final group game after picking up a suspension after he was booked against Liechtenstein. <\/p>\n

Now, Wales boss Craig Bellamy<\/a> has claimed Ampadu\u2019s absence does not pose a problem to his side, ahead of the crucial World Cup qualifier. <\/p>\n

\"CraigPhoto by James Gill \u2013 Danehouse\/Getty ImagesCraig Bellamy delivers verdict on Leeds United\u2019s Ethan Ampadu<\/p>\n

Speaking in his press conference ahead of Wales\u2019 game against North Macedonia, Bellamy explained why he was not overly concerned by Ampadu\u2019s absence. <\/p>\n

With one-time Leeds transfer target Harry Wilson<\/a> set to captain Wales in the game, Bellamy expects his team to show their versatility in Ampadu\u2019s absence. <\/p>\n

Bellamy said: \u201cIt\u2019s not the first time I haven\u2019t had Ethan Ampadu. This could be my 16th game now, coming up. I think I\u2019ve only had him for about six, I think. So we\u2019ve got used to not having Ethan, it\u2019s not a problem. <\/p>\n

MORE LEEDS UNITED STORIES<\/p>\n

\u201cI say it\u2019s not a problem, we like him, I prefer to have him. But we have one or two replacements, not quite in that profile, but with the type of game North Macedonia will be, it suits as well one or two of the players we have in that area. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like players being flexible. I feel you have to be now in this day and age, that\u2019s me personally. You need to be able to play four or five different positions, but understand different roles, understand what\u2019s required for you with and without the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EthanPhoto by Robin Jones\/Getty ImagesLeeds United winger Dan James caused a problem for Craig Bellamy<\/p>\n

James was praised for his performance for Wales, however, Bellamy went on to admit that the Leeds winger caused him an unexpected headache as the game drew to a close. <\/p>\n

With Ampadu entering the game on a booking, Bellamy was tempted to withdraw the Leeds captain to protect him from suspension. <\/p>\n

However, he elected to withdraw James instead due to his limited opportunities at Leeds<\/a> in recent weeks and risk Ampadu picking up the booking that will rule him out of Wales\u2019 next game. <\/p>\n

Do you think Leeds will be relegated this season? <\/p>\n

\u201cIn an ideal world, I would love to take Ethan off. It wasn\u2019t an ideal world. \u201cWe can only make five changes. I have to make certain changes due to what minutes players are able to play,\u201d Bellamy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to manage it because we want players in the right condition for North Macedonia as well. So, do I take Dan James off? Actually, he\u2019s doing really well at this moment. But if I keep him on any longer, I take him out of North Macedonia.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wales head coach Craig Bellamy has claimed that it is \u201cnot a problem\u201d for his side that Ethan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,51788,393,12411,4884,1860,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-577022","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-craig-bellamy","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-ethan-ampadu","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-leeds","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115567350765499255","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}