Speaking exclusively with BOYLE Sports, former Sweden Superstar Stefan Schwarz has hailed fellow compatriot Viktor Gyokeres as a "fighter", backs Eze to replace Merino and gives his perspective on whether the recent depaarture of Nwaneri on loan to Marseille was a mistake.
The former Arsenal and Sunderland midfielder has also offeered his perspective
Swedish football legend Stefan Schwarz has backed Viktor Gyokeres and his Arsenal teammates to go one better than Manchester City and Manchester United by winning the quadruple this season.
In an exclusive interview with BOYLE Sports , the former Arsenal, Benfica and Sunderland midfielder also spoke of his hopes that Ireland and Northern Ireland can beat the odds to bring the World Cup to life this summer.
Arsenal's Attack
Attacking Depth
Will Viktor Gyokere s be making Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz even sharper this season? I can imagine in all the training sessions, every day when they’re working, that they’re competing against each other. They all have the same goal, and that’s to be successful at Arsenal .
If they want to play, they have to perform very well in training, and that will push the quality up all the time. Those training sessions are vital for the games on the weekend, and I think everyone loves Gyokeres . He’s a fighter. He’s a competitor. He’ll push himself. He’ll push the others too.
It’s an interesting period of the year, the last third of the season. You’re closer to your vision of success. You’re closer to the goals you established before the season started. When you’re getting closer, you need even more focus. You can taste the hunger to be successful and win trophies.
Will Gyökeres Finish This Season With Double Digit League Goals? (Currently 6)
Merino Injury: Eze Can Impact Team
Can Eze have a big impact while Merino is injured? Yes, for sure. Someone has to step up because Merino is a tremendous player. He’s versatile enough to play in a number of different positions, and he scores a lot of important goals. We know what he’s capable of in an Arsenal shirt. I think Eze is an option, but Arsenal have a lot of options.
We now have Kai Havertz back with his work rate, he is always on the run. He stretches opponents. He never gives up the ball. And I think he looked stronger than before against Kairat . He has to play the games coming up and get the goals behind him to perform even better.
Was Letting Nwaneri Leave A Mistake?
The quality was there from Ethan Nwaneri. It’s just the opportunity to grow that he needed. I mean this for all players. Maybe this is the best for Nwaneri to be loaned out to play more, grow as a player and maybe have this impact for Arsenal next season. He can make mistakes at Marseille without feeling the pressure that he can be substituted, so it’s a good step to be loaned out to come back strong with more games under his belt.
Grant Xhaka
Xhaka Regret?
Granit Xhaka was a very good servant for Arsenal football club. A great player, but everything has its time. As Arsenal supporters, we appreciated him and his performances, but life goes on.
I'm very happy to see that he won the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen because he always had a winning mentality. He's a fighter. He's always wanting to help his teammates to be better, and we can see that in Sunderland now as well. It's one of the reasons that he was brought to the club, that winning mentality. He plays every game wanting to win, and he has brought that experience and his leadership skills to Sunderland , who have done tremendously well. Unbelievably well, in fact.
All their summer signings gelled so fast. The manager has done really well with all the work that club has done with transfers from the chairman down. Sometimes you need a young chairman because they act with no fear. It’s normal for young people to have no fear at all, but he is also quite experienced in football, or at least his family is very experienced in the game. We should never forget that football is in their blood. Don’t forget what his father did to make Olympique Marseille, one of the biggest clubs in the world, successful. It’s good to see that he is bringing that success to Sunderland .
Dan Ballard
Could Ballard Return?
Dan Ballard to Arsenal ? I love him. He is very strong, hardworking and very honest. He takes his football very seriously, and the way he’s worked on his trade at Sunderland , he could go on to a bigger stage, but I hope that he stays to bring Sunderland to a bigger stage instead.
Sunderland are in a very good situation, and if Ballard stays for the next couple of years, he can grow as a player and as a person as well. It’s a good club that he can take to the next stage because we don’t know how much the Sunderland owners want to invest into next season. He needs to know the vision for it, but I think they have grown from last year, and the team will grow again next year.
Sometimes you have to be realistic. You can’t grow too fast. You need to make it a little bit more sustainable. But Dan Ballard is one of my favourite Sunderland players.
Ballon d’Or Contenders
Ballon d’Or Contenders
Which Arsenal player can win the Ballon d’Or i n 2026? I think Declan Rice . He’s a tremendous player. Very solid, and you know what you get from him week in, week out. A great leader on and off the field. A very good communicator. His deliveries from set pieces, his passes, and the interceptions he makes he is very good alongside Martin Zubimendi. Rice is as good a Ballon d’Or candidate a s anyone in world football right now, and he still has a lot of potential to realise.
Rice is quite young still, but he has the right mindset. He's very mature for his age. He knows what needs to be put into the work to win, and it seems like he not only feels very responsible for himself but also for his teammate and the supporters he plays for.
He cares about the success of the club, of the team, and he will grow greater as a player. He will get better and better if he can continuously perform at this level and improve even more. Can Rice win multiple Ballon d’Ors ? Let’s see if he can win one first and maybe bring the others home after that, but you know, there are a lot of good players around. We’re just so happy that Arsenal have a couple of very good players that could be on the list to win these individual prizes, but the biggest prizes come from the success of the club and the team.
Is Declan Rice a Ballon d’Or Contender?
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