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.
Scottish Premiership
Scottish Premiership Prediction
Hearts have gone really well, and it’s been good for Scottish football as a whole, but it will not be easy to see it through to the end. There’s always the possibility, though. Why not? Hearts are a competent side. I think they can do it.
When you are a team in harmony playing against two giants in Celtic and Rangers , you should enjoy it. It's very refreshing to see Hearts competing with the two giants, and it puts even more pressure on those two giants because they have all the pressure. If you have that belief, that confidence, when every player is playing to the limits of their capacity, you really have nothing to lose.
Can Celtic Win Europa With O’Neill?
Martin O'Neill is a very experienced manager. He’s like a little fox. He's very clever. Very intelligent. He was like that as a player, and he is like that now as a manager.
He's very good with his players. He can motivate his players as we’ve seen with Celtic this season. He has the tactical awareness, the man management and is good with communicating with the media, and as someone who has that pedigree, I think yes, he can take them all the way. He's very good for Celtic .
Next Celtic Manager
Could Any Swede Take Celtic Role?
Henrik Larsson or Freddie Ljungberg ? I don’t think they are in the right situations to be managers of Celtic . First of all, Hendrik has been out of football for a bit. Of course, we know he would have all of the respect, reputation and image as a Celtic legend for what he has done for them. Freddie is doing a lot of Swedish TV and has been out of football as well as a manager or coach, so it's not realistic to say that they would be considered as candidates.
Someone like Olof Mellberg could be quite interesting. He did very well with Brommapojkarna , a small team in the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s Premier League , working on a small budget. He had a conversation with the Swedish FA, but they couldn’t agree on terms, so he went to America and wasn’t so successful. But he is a competitor. His teams are well organised.
But you know, when you're talking about big clubs like Celtic or Rangers , they need big managers from around the world that have a bigger CV than Mellberg , but you have to start somewhere.
The Ireland MNT
Ireland’s Playoff Chances
Can Ireland win their playoffs to qualify for the World Cup ? I hope so because the Irish people are always in my heart. I played with many Irish players, some of them international players, and in general, I’ve found the Irish to be lovely people, and I think they have an interesting team.
So much can happen leading up to the playoffs with the injuries and all these different pieces, but they have to perform. It will be a very tough couple of playoffs, but it’s tough for everyone, so why not?
The Irish Fanbase
The Irish fans always bring a good, friendly atmosphere to a World Cup . They love their singing and taking the opportunity to enjoy a big tournament, and I think they have an interesting side at the moment, so maybe they can qualify and then go on and do something even greater in the summer. They always have a good spirit. They always have self-belief. I think they can play very positive football, too.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland’s Chance
You know, Northern Ireland, with the fighting spirit of the underdog, I think playing Italy will suit them, actually. Sometimes it’s not just the quality of a team that wins games. It’s motivation. It’s hard work. That’s what wins you games, even against a better team like Italy , quality-wise.
You have to do the basics right, and it starts with hard work, discipline and organisation. If you have that, then you always have a chance. It doesn't matter who you're playing against because at the end of the day, you have to perform.
Be focused. Do the right things. Hopefully, Italy’s players don’t bring their best performances. If it’s Northern Ireland who are the team that performs on the day, they have a chance.
Sweden
My Heart Says Sweden Will Win World Cup!
My heart says that we're gonna go to the World Cup, but it will be more difficult than before, with the injured players we will be missing, like Alexander Isak . I think that defensively we have to step up because we are quite good going forward, but we are very easy to hurt on the counter-attack. I'm not too afraid of Sweden going forward. We have a lot of qualities. It is how we defend as a unit and as a team.
We have Ukraine , and that is not an easy task, but the good thing is that we will be playing at a neutral venue in Spain . That will be beneficial for Sweden . If I had to score Sweden’s chances, it'd be 50-50, but you have to believe.
Outside Interests
Career Reflections
A good friend of mine was the coach of Sunderland , Bobby Saxton. He was mad for horse racing and follows it all over with the TV and radio. I'm not into horses or horseracing so I was not listening to what was being said, and I didn't want to waste my time on it. I focused on my business, on the football business, and of course, you have hobbies, but horses were not my thing.
I remember when I played for Sunderland , and there was even dog racing not so far away, and some of the players went to the little stadium and watched it, but it’s a different culture for sure. But I respect the beautiful animals and the unbelievable races. It's just not my cup of tea.
Ray Parlour and Ian Wright were great characters, great personalities and two fantastic footballers I was privileged to share a dressing room with, but I wasn’t interested in horses like them. I take my big hat off to them for how they performed for so many years at Arsenal and all the success they enjoyed. I can only congratulate them for their careers in the game.
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