Ask (from our reporter) – The reason? A little different from Květ and Köstl, Necid found himself in the defensive line simply because the other stoppers are suffering from health problems. “Ondřej Petrák and Jan Vondra are our alternatives in the center stopper position, and both are out at the moment. We only have Antonín Křapka for this post and we don’t know what can happen. Rather, I’m reacting to the interpersonal situation and the fact that I can’t always buy everyone,” Veselý explained his thought processes.
But be careful, this is not an emergency solution, thought up on the knee. The head coach of Bohemians had been thinking about the operation with the working name Necid on the stopper for a long time, but only now did it come in handy. “I wanted to try it earlier,” Veselý admitted. “In a three-back system, the middle stopper is more of a duel and deals with things such as headers, he often meets the opponent’s striker. And it is precisely in duels that Necka excels,” he then listed the reasons why, why it might not be a bad idea at all.
And the former national team forward does not present himself in a bad light at all on the opposite side of the pitch than he was used to operating throughout his career. With Zalaergszeg, the last winners of the Hungarian Cup, he played half of the second act in the heart of the defense. “He did a great, really perfect performance. After he brought the ball out, we also scored the only goal of the match,” Veselý appreciated that Necid contributed to a valuable 1:0 win.
Against the Croatian Osijek (2:3), Necid spent the entire second half as a stopper, and although his team conceded all three goals during that time, they did not do badly. “He did it with honor. Maybe the third goal went partly through him, but it certainly wasn’t the case that we lost because of his mistakes, the problem was elsewhere,” Veselý thinks.
So will Necid follow in the footsteps of former Liberec Jan Nezmar, who at the end of his career was retrained from striker to stopper? “Not that. It’s not like I’m changing his position and making him another Ondřej Petrák. Rather, it may happen that Necka will be on the field, someone will be sent off or injured and we will move him to the defense to finish the game there. So it’s about trying it out and experiencing it for similar cases,” Veselý outlined his plans.
In today’s match against Partizan Belgrade (16:00), Necid should return to his post and at least for part of the duel fulfill the role of the classic nine. But with a decent probability, we can already witness an unprecedented phenomenon in the form of stopper Necid on the league lawns during the following season.