Arsenal: Ranking Best and Worst Players for February

February was a strange month for Arsenal. From six games, they garnered four impressive wins. However, the two defeats they suffered were hugely damaging and cast a shadow over an otherwise successful period.

The results of north London derbies are always significant. Losing 2-1 at White Hart Lane was a major blow to Arsenal, and it seemed to briefly hand Tottenham Hotspur the initiative in the race for Champions League qualification.

Arsenal's impressive domestic form set that right, but another disaster struck their European campaign when they lost 3-1 to Monaco in the first leg of their Champions League tie.

In this piece, we identify the heroes and villains behind Arsenal's February, listing the three best players and the three worst. Each player must have been deemed to have made a substantial contribution to the month's fixtures—there's no point listing Abou Diaby as the team's most ineffective player when he has barely stepped on the pitch. Equally, sustained positive performances are rewarded in the best-player category.

It’s worth qualifying what we mean by best and worst. This is not a list compiled according to the fundamental attributes of each Arsenal player. Instead, it’s about their contribution to the month relative to their potential. Did they exceed expectations? Did they underperform? Crucially, we also factor in the degree to which their performances impacted the team’s results. If they turned a match or cost valuable points, that’s an important consideration.

Let us know your thoughts on the rankings in the comments section below.

Note: These assessments only take February in to account, so the recent 2-0 win over Everton is not deemed relevant.

3rd-Best Player: Santi Cazorla

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The PFA Fans' Player of the Month for December and January maintained that form for much of February.

Pundits had speculated that the return of Mesut Ozil to the Arsenal XI would see Cazorla's creative powers wane. However, he found a way to dovetail effectively with the club's record signing, producing some memorable magic along the way.

Perhaps the high point was the opening game of the month against Aston Villa. Cazorla scored one and grabbed two assists as Arsenal took the Midlands team apart.

Later in the month, he settled into a deep-lying midfield role, playing alongside Francis Coquelin. At times, it worked a treat: Cazorla's nimble feet and ambidextrous turns allow him to wriggle into space in even the most congested midfield. However, there have been some signs of late that the physicality of that part of the field may begin to wear Cazorla down.

It remains to be seen if he will return to a more attacking position once Aaron Ramsey returns to fitness.

2nd-Best Player: Olivier Giroud

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Four goals in a calendar month is a good return for any striker.

Olivier Giroud netted against Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace to help Arsenal to some important victories in the month of February. Even the return to fitness of Danny Welbeck could not oust him as Arsenal's foremost centre-forward.

His FA Cup brace against Middlesbrough was particularly eye-catching. The second of those goals was a thumping near-post volley, giving the Championship side an emphatic demonstration of Premier League class.

It was not to be a perfect month for Giroud, however. Against Monaco, he endured a disastrous display featuring a series of increasingly calamitous misses.

Nevertheless, that one poor performance can not cancel out an excellent contribution to the month as a whole.

Best Player: Mesut Ozil

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Mesut Ozil was Arsenal's best player across the month of February.

Since returning to the side in January, he has looked like a different player. This has been far closer to the Ozil the Gunners thought they were getting when he first arrived from Real Madrid.

That spell on the sidelines at the back end of 2014 seems to have had several benefits. First of all, it allowed him to put in some serious gym time, enabling him to withstand more challenges on the field.

Crucially, it also gave him some time away to reflect and recapture his hunger for the game. Although his hangdog demeanour means it’s sometimes difficult to decipher his mood, there is a notable increase in his energy and vigour on the field. He looks fresh, and he seems to be enjoying his football again.

That much was particularly evident in the 5-0 victory against Aston Villa, when he scored a goal and was outstanding. He was also one of the team’s better performers in the defeat at White Hart Lane, in which he also scored. Overall, Ozil has been directly involved in four goals this month, scoring twice and creating a further two.

His fantastic form makes criticism of his performance in the final game of the month against Monaco somewhat unfair. While he did not meet his usual standards in that game, neither did any Arsenal player. 

3rd-Worst Player: Alexis Sanchez

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It may seem like heresy to include Alexis Sanchez in this list. Regardless of what happens between now and the end of the season, the Chilean is likely to be crowned the club’s Player of the Year in May. He has largely been an outstanding contributor.

However, this has been a lean month for him. By his own high standards, he has been disappointing.

He hasn’t been helped by concerns over his fitness. Sanchez missed the games against Aston Villa and Tottenham with injury, and he played against Leicester City despite clearly being unfit. It seems his desire to be out on the field can sometimes get the better of him.

Alexis has now gone seven games without a goal, and that’s naturally beginning to play on his mind. His decision-making is not as instantaneous as it once was, and it’s clear he needs a goal to inject him with a confidence boost.

It’s intriguing that, in 2015 at least, he has not yet scored when Mesut Ozil is on the pitch. While the two will doubtless develop an understanding, at present, Ozil’s inclination to play centrally may be impinging on Alexis’ preferred movement patterns and preventing him from arriving in goalscoring positions with the regularity we saw last year.

2nd-Worst Player: Aaron Ramsey

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It seems harsh to include Aaron Ramsey given that he only played a couple of games before succumbing to injury. However, in those matches, he looked far inferior to the player who was the club’s Player of the Season in 2013/14.

Injuries are part of Ramsey’s problem: It’s difficult for him to find a rhythm when his season is constantly interrupted by niggling hamstring problems.

His performance at Tottenham stands out as one of his poorer displays. While he was energetic and committed as ever, Ramsey seemed unable to keep the ball. He was overly ambitious in his passing, and he ceded possession far too easily, allowing Spurs to dominate the midfield battle.

In Ramsey’s subsequent absence, Santi Cazorla has offered a masterful demonstration of how to retain the ball in the centre of the park. Arsenal fans will hope Ramsey has been watching and learning.

Worst Player: Laurent Koscielny

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Laurent Koscielny is probably the most accomplished central defender on Arsenal’s books. Nevertheless, February was a difficult month for him.

Per Mertesacker is a more obvious target for the critics, but he has been let down by Koscielny too often of late. An obvious case is the Champions League tie with Monaco: The German’s lack of pace was cruelly exposed, but that was largely due to Koscielny’s poor positioning.

He was also at fault in the north London derby defeat, losing track of Harry Kane when the young Englishman nodded the fateful winner.

It’s not difficult to guess why Koscielny has been in such erratic form. The pain of his persistent Achilles problem is likely still troubling him. With that constantly in the back of his mind, it’s inevitable that his performances will suffer.

More than any other player, Koscielny’s errors cost Arsenal directly in terms of results.