In an exclusive interview with BOYLE Sports , Rene Meulensteen has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo swap his 1,000 goals for World Cup glory, but claims that Roberto Martinez has to manage the conversation around Ronaldo 's role carefully.
Elsewhere, the Dutchman has given his perspective on whether the Netherlands defenders can stop Swedish attacking duo Isak and Gyokeres at the World Cup.
The piece concludes with his assessment of the title race in the Scottish Premiership and says he hopes Hearts can break the duopoly in the next few weeks, and names his perfect choice for the next Celtic manager position.
Ronaldo's Legacy
Would Ronaldo Swap 1,000 Goals for the World Cup?
A thousand percent yes. He would definitely want to leave his career with the biggest trophy on earth. They obviously have a chance because Portugal has got a great squad, but yeah, 100%, he would trade that. Roberto Martinez has to manage with him, and he needs to see if Cristiano is that type of person that accepts being rested.
That is a conversation he needs to have, the realisation of whether he wants to buy into that or not. How important does he want to be for Portugal , and how much does the manager feel that he can still contribute when he starts the game? If that's not the case, there's a conversation to be held: listen, I still think you've got a role to play; I don't think that will be in every game you start; I can also see a role for you being an impact player coming off the bench. I don't think that Ronaldo is that type of person, because obviously, he still feels he's fit as anything.
Then you have to make sure that you manage that in the right way and you manage the playing style to make this work, because at the end of the day, give him opportunities; that's the key. That's definitely a tough conversation to have. But Cristiano himself is somebody that wants to be important; he wants to play from start to finish. That's exactly what he still does at Al Nassr , and you have to give him all the credit that he deserves in the way that he keeps himself in shape.
World Cup Contenders
Will the Netherlands Defenders Fear Isak and Gyokeres?
Alexander Isak has not had a great season. If you look at Isak from two years ago for Newcastle , and what he did in terms of carrying the ball and making things happen, he might be short of confidence. Viktor Gyokeres has obviously come good, with Arsenal as well. He's a hard-working, physical player. Depending on how he's going to finish the season, I don't think Holland will be too worried about that. They're always focused on their own game; it's very much possession-based, and we are in charge. I don't think that they're too worried about Sweden .
Scottish Football
Would Hearts Winning the Title Be Great for Scottish Football?
I think the whole world, and everybody outside Scotland other than Celtic fans, is hoping Hearts win the league because they need a change. They need to upset the apple cart. It's not a surprise that Hearts , which obviously is another satellite club of Tony Bloom , and the way they've gone about things, appointing the manager, the recruitment, and everything they've done, it's just a credit to them.
I really hope Hearts do it, and especially for one particular player, Cammy Devlin , because we had him in Australia in the national team. He's such a great guy, such a great lad, such an honest, hard-working player, and he had an amazing season, but he got injured. They missed him because he's the character of the Hearts team. No nonsense, gets stuck in. He's a smaller guy, but he's got the heart of a lion. And I like that. He would face those challenges head-on.
Although I have to say, Martin O'Neill has done a great job to get back to Celtic and stabilise them, but we all know what the situation in Scotland has been for so many years. Rangers before, because they had all the problems, it was Rangers or Celtic ; then, when Rangers had all the problems, apart from the season that Steven Gerrard was there, it's all been Celtic . I think it would be really good if Hearts can get over the line, and it's going to be unbelievable on the final day.
Who Should Be the Next Celtic Manager?
What Celtic need, and Celtic obviously had the Australian experience with Ange Postecoglou . But I've been working with Graham Arnold now for so many years, with Australia for seven years, now with Iraq . And I know what a person he is, what a coach he is, what a manager he is. I really can't understand why somebody like Celtic don't look at somebody like him, because he would be perfect. 100%, no doubt about it.
He would come in, and he would do a similar job to what Ange did or any other successful managers, because I know how good he is at creating a great culture, which is what I think Celtic need. I do think that is what Martin O'Neill has done the moment he walked back into the door. There are loads and loads of managers, and every manager, to be fair, that is given the chance to manage Celtic should be a success, because they've got the biggest budgets, they've got the best players.
I'm sure that Celtic will learn if they don't win this league this year; they will have learned from this past season and will make sure that doesn't happen next year.
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