It was hardly a vintage month for Arsenal, and that made our player of the month discussion a little difficult.

The last three months have seen more or less unanimous decisions go the way of Mesut Özil, but a brief injury and a deep in form through January left the running wide open this time around.

And so, after small pitches for Joel Campbell, Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey, the award fell into the reliable hands of Petr Čech.

The goalkeeper has been something of an unsung hero this season. That’s not to say he hasn’t received his plaudits, he has, but the way he makes the whole Arsenal side feel safe is taken a little for granted. As I said, January wasn’t great, and Čech had his own blips. However, a crucial clean sheet helped us beat Newcastle, when the 33-year-old kept Georginio Wijnaldum out at 0-0.

There was no clean sheet but a comfortable FA Cup win against Sunderland before draws with Liverpool and Stoke. The game at Anfield wasn’t Čech’s finest, he arguably could’ve done better on two of the goals in a 3-3 draw, but his distribution helped keep a shaky Arsenal alive in the first half. The game at Stoke just days later saw him win man of the match. A particularly impressive late double save clinched the draw.

And then we played Chelsea. Let’s not mention it again.

An ever-present in the Premier League this season, Čech has been a fantastic signing. His consistency and experience are invaluable to us and, though January wasn’t perfect, he keeps us in games constantly. Let’s hope he keeps up the good work!

Petr Čech infographic, made by our very own @arsenaloFka.
Petr Čech infographic, made by our very own @arsenaloFka.