#what was the point of zava? to make jamie understand something about himself? could have done that better with just the roy plot

[fightingdragonswithwho]

hate to be a hater on the main … but this season of ted lasso excels (once again) at team dynamic and the found family elements and i think the finale absolutely nailed that, i cried, i laughed, it was perfect on that. now as for the individual stories and relationships… yeah, let’s leave it at that

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Zava retired, but they didn't say anything about paying out his contract (and freeing him from his obligations to Richmond that way), right? He left, but he'd still be their player if he did return to football...

... Unless he expressed an interest in returning and was, say, ioaned to West Ham, in exchange for them covering the cost of his contract, a la Jamie in Season 1 getting loaned to Richmond...

Hiya, nonny!

I am very much not an expert on these matters, but from what little digging around I’ve done, it seems unlikely that Zava would have any obligations to Richmond at this point. Either he terminated his contract early and paid compensation for it, or he and Richmond reached an agreement and tore up the contract on the understanding that Zava would leave the sport entirely. The latter seems unlikely, given that he just disappeared and the club only learned of his retirement via social media, but maybe something was agreed upon afterwards. Or maybe Zava exploited the fact that the contract wasn’t signed with his name but with “you’re welcome”… or maybe there was always a very special “free to leave at will” clause in Zava’s contract, because he had the leverage to push for that? Either way, I think it’s reasonable to assume that Zava has no obligations to Richmond at this point. (I might be utterly mistaken, though.)

That being said, I am hugely invested in him making a return for the final match against West Ham! That, I think, is actually made easier if Zava’s completely free of Richmond because I’m not sure they’d agree to loan him out to their greatest rival – I mean, this is not some young player needing a bit more time on the pitch than his mother club can offer him at this point, this is a superstar! One who might admittedly have performed underwhelmingly in the end, but still not the sort of player you just want to give away to someone else? And when that someone else is Rupert… yeah, I don’t see Rebecca going for it (unless they have a secret hope that Zava’s diva antics will wreak havoc with the West Ham team? That strikes me as a bit far-fetched, but who knows). But if Zava is free of his Richmond obligations, he could choose to join West Ham and, well. Then we’ll have the Zava versus Jamie showdown some of us are bloody well dying for.

Just. The team will be shocked when the hear the news, of course. (God, I cannot even begin to imagine Dani’s reaction. That poor boy.) Probably also rather dejected – how the fuck are they going to win now?

Then imagine Jamie’s face… How he’s maybe a bit thrown but he is determined and he’s a bit put out because fucking Zava again and why the fuck is the team going crazy over that idiot again but maybe he’s also a little tiny bit eager because he knows how much he has improved and he wants to beat that arrogant prick… and he’s a little nervous, too, because what if he can’t? You know Phil Dunster would fucking slay at subtly portraying all these emotions as Jamie sits quietly in the chaos erupting around him.

And then there’s an “Oi!” cutting through the din and that’s Roy Kent now, looking as annoyed as ever: “So they got Zava? So fucking what? We’ve got Jamie fucking Tartt.”

And so they do. And so they win. Regardless of what we actually get on the screen (which certainly isn’t guaranteed to involve Zava or a final game against West Ham) there’ll forever be a moment in my mind, of Zava gearing up for another insane goal, except Jamie’s there and steals the ball and outruns, outdribbles and outplays every single opponent until he’s in the perfect position to score a perfect goal. And after that Zava comes after him again and again but he can’t touch him; Jamie is (to steal a quote from Good Omens) finally and forever on his own ground, and while Zava plays only for himself, Jamie plays for a team now, and after his intial goal keeps setting his teammates up for opportunity and opportunity and Ted's total football and teamwork saves the day. (And Jamie. Jamie also saves the day.)

(I’m also fond of a scenario where instead of Roy mentioning Jamie before the game begins, Richmond is down after the first half, and Roy declares something along the lines of: “We need to start challenge Zava heads-on or we’ll be fucking slaughtered. Jamie, you need to go out there and be an utter fucking prick. Be the most Jamie Tartt you’ve ever fucking been.” Or Jamie asks for it, recognizing that the time to be a prick has very much arrived, and Ted looks at Roy, maybe a little concerned that this is a step away from their carefully cultivated total football approach, but Roy just nods, and Ted gives the go-ahead.)

(As I’ve stated previously, I don’t actually want Richmond to win the Premier League, but maybe they can still win the final game. Some other match ends in a way that has them coming in second rather than first in spite of beating West Ham, or some such.)

(It’s interesting to note, though, that if a player terminates his contract without just cause during the protected period, sporting bans might be imposed on them, which would ban Zava from playing for four or even six month after he left Richmond. Ted Lasso might not care about that, or might claim that the four months have passed by the time he joins West Ham.)

Too many parentheses there. Oh, well.

I’ll take the liberty of tagging @sabra-n and @itsalinh here, as they have been generous with their football expertise in the past. Maybe they can shed some lights on the ins and outs of terminating contracts early?