Ranking Arsenal's Top 5 Players in February

February was not a good month for Arsenal. Their hopes of winning both the Premier League and the Champions League took a huge blow, as they succumbed to heavy defeats at Chelsea and Bayern Munich, respectively.

The positive results Arsenal got last month were expected ones—routine wins over Hull City and non-league Sutton United. As a consequence, there haven’t been too many positive performances for Gunners fans to reflect on in recent weeks.

Nevertheless, in this piece we identify and count down the five contenders for Arsenal's Player of the Month award for February.

They are ranked according to a subjective assessment of their contribution to the Arsenal cause over that period. Playing time isn't a factor—one outstanding and significant moment can mean more than several average performances.

Read on to discover Arsenal's best performers in the month of February.

Theo Walcott will remember February as the month in which he scored his 100th Arsenal goal. Although he also started matches against Chelsea and Hull, he will look most fondly upon his performance against Sutton United in the FA Cup fifth round.

Walcott wore the captain's armband for the evening, and he capped it by netting his milestone goal, turning Nacho Monreal's deflected cross home with his left foot. It was a typically predatory strike from a player who has often divided the Arsenal fans, but whose goalscoring record is impressive.

It was not the most glamorous surroundings in which to reach a major landmark, and the England international shrugged off the goal with barely a celebration. However, the significance of the achievement will not have been lost on anyone.

The major disappointment of the month for Walcott will have been that he was not included in the starting XI to face Bayern Munich.

The 27-year-old has spent much of the campaign regaining Arsene Wenger's trust, but this was an indication that on the biggest stage the Gunners manager still harbours concerns over Walcott's defensive contribution.

Walcott actually offered one of Arsenal's biggest threats once he emerged from the bench, and he is likely to be in contention for a starting role in the second leg on Tuesday.

In the case of Lucas Perez, the less he plays, the more his stock seems to rise. The Spaniard has become a poster boy for disgruntled Arsenal fans, who cannot understand why the striker is not getting more opportunities to start. 

Every time the 28-year-old is used, he seems to make a positive impact. He came off the bench against Hull and played an instrumental part in helping the Gunners to win a late penalty. He would have found the net were it not for a deliberate handball on the line.

He was then named from the start in the FA Cup against Sutton United and was arguably Arsenal's best player on the night.

Perez was one of the few Gunners player to match their non-league counterparts for effort and enthusiasm, and he also scored the goal that gave them the vital lead. Cutting in from the right, he sent in a low cross-shot which evaded Theo Walcott and found the far corner of the net.

As bad as Arsenal were in February, one wonders how much worse it might have been without Laurent Koscielny. He is the glue that holds an increasingly fractured defence together.

Witness what happened against Bayern Munich. With Koscielny on the field, Arsenal were holding the German giants at 1-1. He was then forced off with an injury, and the Gunners subsequently shipped a further four goals. 

While Koscielny has performed fairly well as an individual, there have been one or two dodgy moments. He will have been disappointed with his part in Eden Hazard's goal in the Chelsea match. The France international might have stopped the Belgian in his tracks, but he backed off allowing him a relatively free run at goal. 

Nevertheless, it's clear that the Gunners need him. Koscielny has emerged as a real leader of the Arsenal side this season, and speaking to RMC Sport (h/t Evening Standard) it sounded as if he had managed an astute analysis of their problems:

We have the technical and physical qualities.

It takes more commitment. We are in a complicated situation, [but] we must remain united.

We must put in the effort for the whole match. Against the big teams, it takes more than talent.

If only his team-mates were able to follow his example.

Arsenal suffered a bit of a midfield crisis in February. Injuries to Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey, along with the suspension of Granit Xhaka, left Wenger in a sticky situation. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the major beneficiary, stringing together a sequence of impressive performances in the middle of the park. 

The positional switch may well have breathed new life into Oxlade-Chamberlain's Arsenal career. He had spent much of the season on the wing, but he was struggling to nail down a regular place ahead of Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi. However, in the centre he looks a different proposition entirely.

His pace and skill is still an asset—he uses it to burst between the lines, instigating counter-attacks with his powerful running. The real difference has been the range of passing he's displayed, spraying balls out wide with consummate ease. Arsenal have been searching for a player with the vision of Cazorla, and thus far Oxlade-Chamberlain appears to be the closest parallel they've found.

The major disappointment of the month was that Oxlade-Chamberlain was not picked to start centrally against Bayern Munich. Instead, he was confined to the wing, and he failed to exert any real positive influence on the game. That disappointment was compounded when he conceded possession late on to gift Bayern their fifth goal.

Oxlade-Chamberlain should not allow that moment to derail his progress. February has been a positive month for him.

Where would Arsenal be without Alexis Sanchez? The Premier League's joint-top goalscorer continued to make his presence felt in February, netting twice against Hull and scoring Arsenal's only goal in the Allianz Arena. 

That goal in Munich was a great example of Alexis' characteristic persistence. Although he initially missed a penalty, he showed great determination to have two rebound attempts, the second of which was a perfectly executed volley into the far corner.

He even found time to make a cameo from the bench against Sutton United. It was brief, but it leant a significance to the tie and showed Wenger's respect for the competition and his opposition. 

This wasn't a universally good few weeks from the Chilean. He will have been disappointed with his performance at Stamford Bridge, but he's not alone there—Arsenal simply didn't click on the day.

Another good month for Alexis will only make the Arsenal fans more anxious about the prospect of him leaving the club. With just over a year remaining on his contract, there is worryingly little talk about an imminent extension.

Arsenal have waited so long for a centre-forward of Alexis' quality. To lose him now would be a tremendous blow to the club.