Perry Groves: Arsenal will finish top four ahead of Tottenham

Ex-Arsenal man, Perry Groves recently sat down in an interview for his company, Play with a Legend to share his thoughts on all things Arsenal.  

Play with a Legend is an organisation set up by Perry Groves and Sports journalist, Josh Landy in 2014. What the organisation does, is give loyal fans the chance to live out their dream and play a game with the players they idolised growing up as fans. Arsenal players such as Ray Parlour, David Seaman and Paul Merson have all been involved in the past but are among the staggering, 45 clubs represented by the company. 

In the recent interview, Groves spoke over the position of Arsenal’s midfield maestro, Mesut Ozil…

There is nobody who is undroppable. It is always based on your level of performance. You can tell Mesut Ozil is lacking a bit of confidence because he’s making passes when he should be shooting, and when he shoots there’s little conviction.

When Ozil is on top of his game he’s the best number 10 at Arsenal, but then you’ve got to decide ahead of an away trip to Bayern Munich if it’s better for the team defensively if someone else plays in there.

And on Arsenal’s loanee, Jack Wilshere…

Jack Wilshere at the top of his game gets into the Arsenal starting eleven — and whether that would be as one of the holding midfielders in the centre when [Arsene] Wenger plays his 4-2-3-1 system or even Wilshere is going to have to play as a number 10 in the middle of a three.

Pep Guardiola quite rightly is a big fan of Wilshere because he can remember him playing against Barcelona in 2011. He was the best midfield player on the pitch in both legs and when you consider Barcelona had Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets in the team that’s a big accolade. If I was Arsenal, and he could get back to those levels, I would sign Wilshere on a long-term deal.

Lastly, does the ex-Arsenal man think the Gunners will beat their rivals, Tottenham Hotspur to the top four…

It’s happened the last twenty-something years but it’s going to be a tight this season, but maybe not as tight as last season going into the final game. It looks like Spurs are lacking that bit of belief again against the top sides, especially away from home. I think it will go right down to the wire and being very subjective, not objective, Arsenal will just pip them.