Craig Bellamy reveals bizarre ban he’s put on Wales players to gain ‘advantage’

Craig Bellamy has been in charge of the Wales national team for over a year now and has implemented a number of strict rules for his players to follow on the pitch to help them strive for success

Craig Bellamy has revealed how his Wales players are forbidden from throwing their arms up in frustration. The former Liverpool, Newcastle United and Cardiff City forward assumed control of his national team last year.

He is currently steering them through their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, and as a result, the 46-year-old has worked relentlessly to eliminate any poor on-field behaviour within the squad. Discussing his standards on the High Performance Podcast, Bellamy said: “I’ve been very lucky that I still work with people from an analysis background that have gone into coaching, that have taught me the tools.

“Looking to trigger here, what’s that do there? What’s the habit here? Waving of hands, turning back. So all these bits, you start highlighting. Tell you a good team, think they’re a good team? Okay, we see this now, see that, see that. And then oomph, they’re looking at, ‘We’ve got a chance here, because we don’t do that. So that’s an advantage straight away.'”

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When pressed about whether he was referring to spotting vulnerabilities in sides who were gesturing in annoyance and criticising team-mates, Bellamy said: “It’s banned for us, we don’t allow it. It’s wasting energy, but it also shows the opposition.

“It shows the opposition that you’re… I wouldn’t say ill-disciplined, maybe that’s a bit harsh. But you’re not in the game, too worried about other things.

“The moment we seen Turkey’s first game [of the Nations League], and their habits. We seen waving the hands if one don’t go, and then that, and then [Baris] Yilmaz on the left wing. Waves his hands twice, then the third incident gets a second yellow, red card.

“All in the space of basically 20 seconds. There’s your moment. That’s why we don’t throw hands, because it leads to frustration, but it also leads to frustration from someone else. Now, if I see a centre-back coming up to the ball and he’s waving his hands, ‘Where’s my options?’ That just leads to the opposition to press you even more.

“So you’re giving them a trigger, it’s like, ‘As soon as my hands come out, I’m in trouble.’ So what do you think? If you’re a good player you’re like, ‘I’m going after you.’ You do, it’s normal to. We don’t give you that, we cannot give you that. You understand? We do not give anyone a helping hand.”

Bellamy has implemented other rules since taking charge of his national team. Earlier this year, he told his players not to swap shirts with Kevin De Bruyne during a World Cup qualifier against Belgium, reports Wales Online.

He explained: “You have to honour your shirt. The only time you give it up is when you lose your place and someone else takes it, but you’ve left it in a good place.

“That’s a no-brainer to me and I believe the players love that as well. Our shirt is the most important shirt in football. We don’t give that away, you can’t give it away.”

When quizzed about whether the shirt swapping tradition extended to Premier League legends like De Bruyne, he added: “I don’t think it is even worth having a conversation about. I don’t need to answer that question. It’s not going to happen. If I’m an aspiring young player then I want that (Wales) shirt. I see ours as the most important shirt, nobody else’s.”

Wales kicked off their World Cup qualification campaign in style with a 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan and a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia in March. A 3-0 triumph over Liechtenstein followed in June, along with a narrow 4-3 loss to Belgium.

Bellamy’s squad currently hold second place in Group J of the qualifiers with seven points from four matches, and are now gearing up for the return fixture in Kazakhstan at 3pm on Thursday, hoping to topple North Macedonia from the top spot.

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