As one of the few Arsenal players in their 30s, Cedric Soares has revealed that he thrives off being able to encourage his inexperienced teammates.
The Gunners have the youngest squad in the Premier League and surprised many by putting up a strong fight to finish fourth last term, ultimately falling short to arch-rivals Tottenham.
The inexperience of the squad is a large talking point in the Amazon documentary series All or Nothing: Arsenal.
Cedric, 30, is one of the most experienced players in the Gunners’ ranks, and he believes that he ‘automatically’ gives his young teammates someone to learn from.
“During the season you have a lot of different moments and you need to feel the group,” the Portuguese right-back told Football365. “I think the older players do this a bit automatic. We try to encourage them, especially in bad moments.
“When you have lost and you have lots of messages saying ‘You didn’t play good’, this is a moment when they have to go out and have the same courage as before or even more. I think this is when experience can come in and try to help them.
“I think the experienced players sometimes help them on the pitch by showing them how to take a risk because when everyone is going good and you’re winning 3-0 it’s easy.
“When we had three difficult results at the start of the season and we had a game and needed to play good, this is a moment when we need everyone ready. Maybe the experienced players try to encourage the young [players] and they will learn going through these situations.”
As mentioned by Cedric, Arsenal had a difficult spell at the start of 2021/22, losing all three of their opening games against Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City, respectively.
As seen on the Amazon documentary, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta gave specific instructions on how to deal with Romelu Lukaku during half-time of the 2-0 home defeat to Chelsea.
Cedric was asked if Arteta gives his players specific instructions for the best players in the league – such as Lukaku, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.
He replied: “They (coaching staff) do very specific work. Not every game we analyse one player; we would analyse the general play of the opponent because we also need to focus on ourselves.
“When there is a player, sometimes they need this kind of attention. They will say specifically for one or two players or even for one defender how to defend the box or the individual, they will help you. On the pitch, it is…
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