Photo: Barcex / Wikipedia
Football legend Ruud Gullit, Ballon d’Or winner, Champions League icon with AC Milan, Premier League title-winner with Chelsea and former Netherlands captain, joins MrRaffle.com for an exclusive conversation with the 2026 World Cup less than 40 days away.
MRRAFFLE.COM
We have, once again, football royalty in the house. Ruud Gullit, thank you for taking the time to join us today. How are you?
Ruud Gullit: Very well. I’m outside at the golf club — beautiful weather, as you can see.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Shall we talk a little about Dutch football? The World Cup is now less than 40 days away. Which Dutch players should we be watching out for this summer?
Ruud Gullit: Ooh, that’s difficult. I think Cody Gakpo has something to prove — he always does well with the national team, scores a lot of goals. Donyell Malen is doing well with Roma, also scoring a lot, so he’s one to look forward to as well. Then of course Tijjani Reijnders has had an on-and-off season — I think he’ll want to prove himself at the World Cup, so that could be an advantage for us. Jorrel Hato was seeing a lot more action at Chelsea, and he played really well, actually as a left back. That’s always been a position that’s been so-so for us, so it’s good to have someone extra who can do that job.
CardBiz Scout Report
Jorrel Hato (Ajax/Chelsea)
Gullit highlights Hato as the vital solution to the Dutch left-back dilemma. Currently flourishing at Chelsea, the 20-year-old’s versatility makes his 2024 Bowman Chrome parallels a top-tier “buy” heading into the World Cup.
MRRAFFLE.COM
And what’s the feeling back in the Netherlands about how far the team can go?
Ruud Gullit: I think we have a chance. We’ve been beaten twice in semi-finals – once on penalties, and once by England in the last minutes of the game. So therefore we are close. Some players may be playing in their last tournament, so for them it’s the last opportunity – take it. We have a good team. I hope they can grab it with both hands this time.
Ruud Gullit: Yes, we have to.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Speaking of players who’ve played in World Cups before — Messi, Ronaldo — could either come into contention for another Ballon d’Or? Imagine Argentina make it back-to-back World Cups. Could we see Messi win a ninth?
Ruud Gullit: If Messi has been influential, then of course. But that’s what Ronaldo wants as well — and Portugal have a good team too. It’s tough to pinpoint but for me France, Spain and Argentina are still the favourites. My dark horses are Holland and Portugal.
MRRAFFLE.COM
The dark horses. And do you think Lamine Yamal, or anyone else, will ever come close to the number of Ballon d’Ors that Messi and Ronaldo have won?
Ruud Gullit: I think it depends on how you perform at the World Cup now. Even if you win a Champions League — Yamal can’t win that this time anyway — he needs to excel at the World Cup to make his mark and be in contention for the Ballon d’Or, because he hasn’t been in the final. So who else is in the Champions League final who comes close this year? Dembélé, of course — he’s already won it. But for me, one of the best is Vitinha. Unbelievable player. I think he’s the engine of that midfield. He could be a fantastic player as well at the World Cup.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Hopefully Yamal will be fit too — his hamstring has been a bit of a problem.
Ruud Gullit: Yes, but there are a lot of players who have something to prove. Kylian Mbappé also — not a great season with Real Madrid. I think he’d like to show how good he is, because he is a fantastic player, and he already has a World Cup to his name.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Speaking of Real Madrid — there’s a story today about a fight between Tchouaméni and Fede Valverde.
Ruud Gullit: Ah, but that’s normal. Come on. In my day, every week there was always something going on. I don’t care about that — that’s a normal thing and it has to happen. You need to get rid of your frustration. In a team, you don’t need to like each other. You can dislike someone, but you have to respect them because they’re an important asset to the team. But conflict will always come. It must. It can’t be without conflict.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Especially with the pressure of El Clásico at the weekend.
Ruud Gullit: Of course. Completely normal.
MRRAFFLE.COM
There are rumours Manchester United are interested in Tchouaméni — could the chaos help them get their man in the summer?
Ruud Gullit: I don’t know. Look, Real Madrid is the biggest club in the world. Nobody refuses Real Madrid. Nobody. You don’t say, “No thanks.” So to leave Real Madrid, there’s only one reason — if they tell you we’re signing someone else and you’re going in a different direction. But you don’t leave just because you want to go somewhere else. It doesn’t happen.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Manchester United do look in much better shape than they were six months ago though right?
Ruud Gullit: Yes. They look like a team that’s having fun with each other now. Before, it looked very pragmatic — like they had to think before doing anything. Now you can see they’re enjoying themselves. That’s the difference.
MRRAFFLE.COM
It’s nice to see — we need a strong Manchester United for the Premier League.
Ruud Gullit: Yes! And we need Tottenham to stay in the Premier League as well. We need that too.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Do you think Roberto De Zerbi is the man to keep them up?
Ruud Gullit: He’s done pretty well so far. Who have they got next? Leeds? Sometimes when the going gets tough, something better comes out of it. I hope they stay.
MRRAFFLE.COM
We have to talk about Chelsea. They’ve been on a terrible run of form.
Ruud Gullit: Oh yes. I’ve said so many times — I can’t figure out what the plan is. What is your plan? Now, and maybe I’m wrong, but what I see is: it looks like they get a bunch of the best young players, and the coach who comes in has to deal with what’s there. It looks like the incoming coach has no input on which players come in or not. It’s a different philosophy. The thing is, they have great players, but they need experienced players. They don’t have them. Experienced players teach you things, especially in training — they tell you what to do, what not to do, what to avoid. And there’s nobody there correcting that. Nobody to say, “Hey, this is wrong.” And now you can already see that players want to get out of the club. They want to leave. You don’t want that. They feel like, “I want to win trophies,” and the way things are going, that doesn’t seem to be happening. The club needs to do something.
That’s what I think. Maybe they need to come out with a statement about their philosophy so people can understand it. But believe me — the fans want trophies. They’ve come from two Champions League wins. The fans won’t accept this. If you’re part of the elite of Europe, it can’t be like this. Something needs to change in their philosophy, or they stick with it and say, “We believe in it” — but then they’re asking an awful lot of patience from the fans. And that’s not going to happen.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Is there now a danger that when Chelsea are trying to recruit an elite manager, managers will be having second thoughts about whether they even want to go there?
Ruud Gullit: Yes, because any manager would see what I see and say, “I need experienced players — I need a Casemiro, a Tchouaméni. I need these players in midfield. I need this kind of experience alongside the young talent.” And if you don’t have them, it’s going to be a problem. Look at Paris Saint-Germain — they have young players, but they also have players with a lot of experience. Those experienced players tell the young ones what to do, and that’s how they flourish. And when they get older, they’ll teach the next group of youngsters. That’s what Moïsés Caicedo needs — someone like Casemiro next to him to guide him. To say, “Hey, calm down. Do it this way.” And that happens in training sessions.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Is there any danger of Chelsea missing out on Europe and having an even tougher next season ending up like Spurs in a relegation battle?
Ruud Gullit: I hope not. Look, I want Chelsea to be successful. The only thing is, I’ve said it for a couple of years now — I don’t really understand what their philosophy is. And what I’m explaining is what I see, not information I have from the inside. Maybe they need to come out and explain it. But the fans want trophies. They won’t accept anything less.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Some players have come out of this season with credit, though. Joao Pedro, for example.
Ruud Gullit: Every time a player comes through, it looks like they then want to get out of there. You don’t want that.
MRRAFFLE.COM
He’s been linked with Barcelona. Could you see that move?
Ruud Gullit: They have good players. Very good players. But put them all together and it’s difficult — they’re young, inexperienced. You need experienced players around them.
MRRAFFLE.COM
What about Cesc Fàbregas as a manager? Players might remember him from his playing career and immediately respect him.
Ruud Gullit: Look, we thought the same thing about Xabi Alonso. And look how successfully he managed in Germany — then all of a sudden everyone said, “Oh, he could do it anywhere.” It’s not the same. You know, the only thing that is certain for a manager is that he gets fired. That’s the only certainty. And as a coach you have to learn to adapt to the club’s philosophy. Does it match yours? And do you get the players you need to do what you want to do? Pep Guardiola got all the players he wanted. That’s why he’s been successful. But if you told Pep, “Deal with what we give you,” he wouldn’t come. Mourinho wouldn’t come. Klopp wouldn’t come. Ancelotti wouldn’t come. These are people who know exactly what the right formula is.
MRRAFFLE.COM
That’s where Chelsea really need to start again, isn’t it? Let’s switch to Liverpool. Arne Slot — not the greatest season, but has he earned another season or two?
Ruud Gullit: I think they need to give him another year. The whole situation with Jota hung over that club the entire time. Everybody deals with grief differently. Some need much more time. And that feeling — that missing — will stay for a long, long time. Can you imagine the new players coming into an environment like that? It’s difficult. I’ve been at a club where there was a death, and for some reason there’s a certain energy everywhere. You can feel it. Like a cloud over the club. A numbness. You don’t know how to deal with it. So I think Liverpool need time to heal, and I believe that will happen after this season.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Do you think Mo Salah leaving will actually help Slot in a way — remove a distraction?
Ruud Gullit: I don’t know. Salah is not the same Salah as last year. He was a very close friend to Jota — very close. So that’s part of it. Something also changed with the new recruits and the way the team played in relation to him. I think he was out of his comfort zone on a lot of issues. I hope Salah finds his mojo again. Whether that’s at Liverpool, I don’t know. But if he finds it, the best place is for him to stay there.
MRRAFFLE.COM
And the same for Virgil van Dijk? He’s got one year left on his contract.
Ruud Gullit: They’re already recruiting young defenders, but his experience is important. I’ve been the most critical of him — and he doesn’t like being criticised. That’s his ego. And that’s not a bad thing. But he didn’t play well. The last couple of weeks he was much better, and maybe some of that was connected to the Jota situation too. But what I always want to hear from him is — he always points the finger at others when something goes wrong. I just want to know what he thinks of his own performance. Not “the team has to do this or that.” Have a look at yourself. Could you do better? Are you happy with it? I just want to know that. Nothing else. Because I think he’s a great defender — but he hasn’t always shown it. And he’s been criticised plenty of times. He doesn’t like it, but that’s part of football. If he plays well, he gets all the credit too. That’s why I say it — because he’s capable of such high levels.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Shall we talk about Newcastle for a minute? Eddie Howe must be feeling pretty fortunate to be getting another season after how difficult this one’s been.
Ruud Gullit: Look, I think he’s done well. I think he also expected certain players to come in — they didn’t, because of PSR. Going up the mountain is easy. Staying on the mountain is the most difficult part. The expectations are bigger. And in order to stay competitive, you need to bring in players who push the existing ones to give 100%. That didn’t happen. Now there’s a danger they lose Anthony Gordon in the summer because of it. You can’t blame Howe for that, though. I think he’s a great coach. He’s done very good things at that club.
MRRAFFLE.COM
And Pep Guardiola — the rumours are that Enzo Maresca will replace him if he leaves in the summer. But is that a big “if”?
Ruud Gullit: You have to give Pep credit — he created a whole new team and it went through ups and downs, but he’s still competing for the title. He’s right there. He’s a fantastic coach. And the funniest thing is, everyone who stole Pep’s ideas is doing well. Mikel Arteta stole everything from him. He instilled that build-up from the back philosophy, that’s how he won everything. But then people try to mimic it with players who can’t do it. How many defenders did Pep buy specifically to play that way? A lot. So if you don’t have those players, don’t do it. Every time I see clubs say, “This is our philosophy” — no, this was Pep’s philosophy. And every time I see teams trying to play out from the back, at the most vital moments of the season, they’re losing points because of it.
MRRAFFLE.COM
We’ve seen it multiple times.
Ruud Gullit: And what was the greatest game of recent times? What does everyone talk about? Bayern Munich against PSG. What happened in that game? Was there build-up from the back? No. Every goalkeeper just hit the ball forward. And I hope coaches see that — because when I see teams insisting on it, I think it’s nonsense. The greatest game of all, and there was no build-up. And then what did Bayern try to do yesterday? A build-up. Didn’t work. Paris Saint-Germain? They just kicked it long every time. The goalkeeper — boom, same side, all the time. The best team in the tournament right now doesn’t even play with a build-up.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Quick predictions before we let you go. Who wins the Champions League final?
Ruud Gullit: 2-0 Paris Saint-Germain.
MRRAFFLE.COM
And the Premier League — Arsenal or Man City?
Ruud Gullit: Arsenal got a huge boost when City dropped points against Everton. A lot of positive energy out of that. City still have a game in hand, but they need Arsenal to drop points. How many games are left — four for City, three for Arsenal?
MRRAFFLE.COM
Arsenal play West Ham and Crystal Palace away with Burnley at home in between.
Ruud Gullit: Crystal Palace away — that could be tricky. Though Palace are still in Europe, so maybe they’ll rest players.
MRRAFFLE.COM
And the FA Cup final — do you give Chelsea a chance?
Ruud Gullit: I hope so — I want Chelsea to win. It’s going to be tough. Maybe they’ll have to adjust their tactics because they’re playing against a team that knows how to do it.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Marcel Desailly said he wants to see Chelsea sign Darwin Núñez in the summer. Is he a player you could see leading the line for the Blues?
Ruud Gullit: No. No, no, no. Let’s start from the back. You need a good centre-half, a good experienced central midfielder, and a goalkeeper. Three good players with experience. That’s what a squad like Chelsea’s needs first.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Fair enough. And if Chelsea came and asked for your advice, would you be interested, Ruud?
Ruud Gullit: I don’t think that will happen — they do things their own way. They don’t need me. But you never know. Knowledge goes a long way.
MRRAFFLE.COM
Ruud Gullit, brilliant stuff as always. Thank you very much for your time.