Who is PEC Zwolle’s Tomas Necid? |

PEC Zwolle’s on-loan Czech attacker Tomáš Necid announced his arrival this past Saturday creating the winning goal in a 2-1 win over FC Dordrecht in the last kick of the game. Will Burns spoke to two Czech football experts to get the lowdown on the Blauwvingers new addition.

Tomas Necid - image copyright Henry Dijkman of PECZwolle.nl — Tomas Necid – image copyright Henry Dijkman of PECZwolle.nl

On Saturday evening, PEC Zwolle were down to ten-man and Eredivisie new boys FC Dordrecht had equalised with ten minutes to go. The 3,800 fans inside the GN Bouw Stadion were urging the home side on and Zwolle were against the ropes. Necid emerged with his strapping 6ft 3 inch figure as goalkeeper Diederik Boer launched a long punt forward. The big Czech shrugged off any challenge as he collected the loose ball and ran into the box. A powerhouse of a man, he surged into the area and with great awareness, checked back for Mustafa Saymak just arriving on the edge of the box. Saymak recieved the inch perfect pass and blasted home the winner. The 150 Zwolle travelling fans in the south-east corner of the stadium exploded. Saymak took the plaudits, however Necid earned instant respect and created a buzz for the local press.

CHRIS BOOTHROYD OF CZEFOOTBALL.COM

Total Dutch Football searched for some expert insight on the player and firstly we asked Czech football expert Chris Boothroyd of the excellent CZEFootball.com website for his opinion…

For Necid, he really will be hoping that it’s third time lucky. Once seen as one of the brightest prospects in Czech football, this generation’s Jan Koller but more adapt playing on with the ball at his feet, the 6ft 3 striker is now in the last chance saloon as injury and poor form has blighted his career in recent years.

Signed by CSKA Moscow in 2009 after a breakout calendar year in his native Czech Republic, Necid quickly settled into his new Russian surroundings and became a consistent presence at the tip of CSKA’s attack and an international regular. To use the cliché, the world was at his feet: still young and with a raw talent that was being refined with every passing season, Necid looked set to become one of the most prolific Czech forwards in history. But in June of 2011 against Terek Grozny, just eight minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute, he ruptured his cruciate knee ligaments.

His return, sadly, did not last too long. Despite making his way back into the fold at CSKA Moscow and receiving a surprise call up to the Czech Republic squad for Euro 2012, his knee flared upon again and yet another extended period out of action beckoned. The best part of eighteen months had been lost, as has his career with the five-time Russian Premier League champions.

Since making his second comeback he has been forced into a nomadic lifestyle in order to secure first-team football, but his two temporary stints so far have offered little to suggest that he will be able to recapture the form and scoring touch that saw him move for a reported £4m some five years ago now. A short stint with PAOK was followed by another six-month loan, this time to boyhood club Slavia Prague where it was hoped that he would be able to bully opposing defence just as he had done years earlier when he helped the Vrsovice club to their second successive Czech league title. Sadly, with Slavia in turmoil Necid failed to offer much, if anything, and recorded just three goals in fifteen appearances in what was a disappointing spell back in his homeland.

With his contract with CSKA supposedly running out next summer, his third loan spell is likely to determine his long term future. It’s unlikely that he’ll remain in Moscow, but after two poor spells in Thessalonki and Prague he really needs to perform well with Zwolle if he is to salvage his career, especially on the international front. Strong and capable in the air, Necid should work well if he’s supported by those around him.

KAREL HARING OF ISPORT.CZ

In addition, we asked Czech football journalist Karel Haring of ISport.cz and here’s his thoughts…

Necid is not the kind of player who you could call lucky, if he would have been lucky, he would probably lead the attack of CSKA Moscow now or another one of Europe’s top sides.

He was only 19, when he shone in Slavia Prague, the club where he had grew up. During 16 league matches in the 2008/2009 season, he scored 11 goals and Necid confirmed the reputation he had.

He is natural goalscorer with good position in penalty area, strong in the air, confident and tough even though he faced much more experienced defenders. That is why CSKA Moscow paid almost €5 million for him. Having scored 16 goals in first two seasons, his importance in the Russian side was growing bigger but in June 2011 he suffered a serious knee injury which ruled him out for nine months. This was not the end of his nightmare, as after EURO 2012, he underwent another surgery and did not return until May 2013.

Last spring, he spent a spell on loan at Slavia and he only manage to score three times but it was not only his fault. Slavia went through very tough period and were almost relegated.

Necid is 25 now and Zwolle have signed on loan a really good striker who has a big motivation to rise again. As for the following matches against Sparta, the Czech international forward will have special motivation as Sparta are eternal rival of his beloved Slavia. If he helps to eliminate them, it would be a sweet start of his another attempt for real comeback.

CONCLUSION

It looks like Zwolle could have themselves a profilic striker if he can find form and stay fit. Many strikers have appeared in the Eredivisie to revitalise their careers (Graziano Pelle for one) and Tomáš Necid has all the credentials to fire Zwolle to the next level.