Cedric Soares had come under a lot of scrutiny after a string of poor performances earlier in the season, however, he is starting to turn around his form.
The Portuguese has had to fill in for the injured Takehiro Tomiyasu in recent games, which had worried Arsenal fans due to the strong defensive influence by the Japanese full-back.
However, his return to the squad has been relieved by the performances of Cedric who has been exemplary in recent games.
The former Southampton defender has started the last three Premier League games, and Arsenal have claimed victories in all three.
Edu was slammed for his decision to sell Calum Chambers to Aston Villa in the January transfer window as they believed that he was the best backup option to Tomiyasu.
This was during a period that Cedric was seriously struggling for form which was proved in the 4-1 victory over Leeds United when Cedric came on to replace the 23-year-old and instantly Arteta’s defence looked weaker, causing the loss of a clean sheet.
This was followed up by an underwhelming performance in the FA Cup third round against Nottingham Forest where Arsenal were embarrassingly eliminated.
It seemed as though Cedric’s tenure at Arsenal was over after these string of poor performances, but Arteta’s reliance on the Portuguese international has a major improvement in performances.
The Gunners have been solid defensively in the last three matches, which Cedric has had a major part to play in.
He was pivotal to Arsenal’s clean sheet away to Wolves at Molyneaux which is a tough feat, and he replicated these solid performances against Brentford and the corresponding fixture against Wolves.
While Cedric does have his critics, his performances over the last month have been excellent, and exactly what is needed of a backup defender option.
If he continues these quality performances then his time as an Arsenal player will be much fondly looked at, and Tomiyasu’s return also does not need to be rushed which could force an injury, similar to the setback he suffered after the Carabao Cup semi-final defeat against Liverpool.
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