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Bellamy admits 'we don't allow that' as he reveals ban he's put on Wales players

Craig Bellamy has explained how his Wales players are not allowed to throw their hands in the air in frustration.

The former Liverpool, Newcastle United and Cardiff City forward took up tenure as manager of his national side last year and is currently navigating their 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The 46-year-old has worked tirelessly to iron out any on-pitch bad habits amongst the squad.

Speaking about his expectations 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.'"

When asked if he was talking about identifying weaknesses in teams who were throwing their hands in the air in frustration and berating each other, Bellamy added: "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."

It's not the only ban that Bellamy has put in place since taking the reins of his national team either. Earlier this year, he instructed his players to refrain from swapping shirts with Kevin De Bruyne during a World Cup qualifier with Belgium.

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."

Asked about if the shirt swapping extended to Premier League legends like De Bruyne in particular, 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."

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