How Cedric has made himself at home with Southampton
SOME people express their footballing affections with a tattoo or profile picture on Facebook.
Southampton defender Cedric Soares has found another way, choosing to live in an apartment that overlooks his new workplace at St Mary’s where he has made an impressive start to life in the Premier League.
High up on the 23rd floor just five minutes’ walk from Southampton’s ground, the Portuguese international and his girlfriend Philippa can glance out of their living room window in the evening and see the stadium lit up as they settle down to watch TV, or a DVD such as American legal drama Suits or the comedy Entourage.
‘It’s the perfect view,’ says Cedric, whose early- season form has enabled Saints fans to get over the sale of their previous right back Nathaniel Clyne to Liverpool.
‘My style is clean and modern and this place was ideal. I look out the window at night, think about the matches that went well, and also the ones that didn’t because it’s important to improve.
‘When my family come over, they can walk to the ground. My friend and team-mate Dusan Tadic lives nearby and he’s done the same.’
Cedric (right) is an example of why clubs like Southampton shop overseas. With eight Portugal caps and Champions League experience, the 24- year- old cost £ 3.5million from Sporting Lisbon, less than a third of the amount they received for Clyne. And he speaks fluent English. Born in Germany to migrant workers who returned to Portugal when he was two, Cedric’s role model is Bayern Munich’s World Cup- winning captain Philipp Lahm.
‘Intelligent, plays it simply, good defensively but likes going forward,’ he explains.
At Sporting, Cedric played in defence alongside Marcos Rojo and Eric Dier who have both made successful transitions into English football. It was Manchester United’s Rojo who advised him to make the jump.
So far, he has helped Saints keep six clean sheets and chipped in with a couple of assists, including a fantastic cross in the build-up to a Tadic goal in the 3-0 home win against Norwich.
His credibility as a defender was also enhanced when he was accidentally caught by a stray elbow from Stoke’s Bojan last weekend. The plaster above his left eye covers the wound which required four stitches. ‘It wasn’t an easy choice to come,’ he admits. ‘Sporting are a big club, always fighting for the title. But I made the right decision. The Premier League is another level. ‘I spoke with Marcos, he said it was all the time cold. But he also told me it is really nice to play here, and you get better because it is another world.
‘Before I signed, I spoke to (Southampton manager) Ronald Koeman on the phone. I wanted to know if I was his choice as well as the choice of the club. When he told me they were together in the decision it made me move.
‘I know about Clyne. He was a fantastic player for Southampton. But I have my own style. I had my own status and each player needs to believe in himself otherwise they won’t be any good.’
The Saints have sold £130million in talent over the last two seasons — Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and Morgan Schneiderlin among them. Yet their recruitment has been canny and they visit Manchester City today in eighth place, only two victories away from a Champions League spot. Previously little-known names like Manchester United target Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk, Graziano Pelle, Tadic and Cedric himself have adjusted to a new country remarkably quickly.
‘It’s this club’s philosophy to always try and achieve more,’ says Cedric. ‘We were seventh in the Premier League last year, so the minimum is to finish in the same place.
‘But we can also have a target to be in the top six. To fight against clubs like Spurs and Liverpool with a lot of history is amazing, but we need that goal in our mind. We have only played two bad games — the last one against Stoke and against Everton when we lost 3-0. Everything was wrong that day.’
The next week is big. They face City without suspended star striker Pelle before Liverpool visit St Mary’s on Wednesday for a Capital One Cup quarter-final.
‘They are two cup finals for us,’ said Cedric. ‘City are an unbelievable team but nobody would have said we would go to Chelsea and win 3-1. We have our chances.
‘I played against Kevin De Bruyne in the Europa League (Wolfsburg v Sporting). He is a really good player, plays a lot between the lines and uses the free space. He is not the kind of player that people love because he is tricky but he knows what he wants. Good cross, good shot, scores goals and assists, and football is about that!’
After battling De Bruyne, he could be in direct competition with Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho, provided the Brazilian has recovered from a minor hamstring problem.
The pair faced each other in the Under 20s World Cup final in 2011 which Brazil won 3-2 with an Oscar hat-trick. Sharing the same agent, Coutinho and Cedric have become good friends and had dinner in London last Sunday after Coutinho and team- mate Lucas Leiva travelled down to watch the ATP tour tennis final.
‘We mentioned the game, had some laughs, “prepare yourself” and that sort of thing,’ said Cedric. ‘He is a nice guy and a fantastic player. But we have our strengths. We will fight with our weapons.’