Zava signing with AFC Richmond is arguably one of the best, if not the best, things that has happened to the team in this season of Ted Lasso.
Zava has contributed immensely in getting the team up to third place, despite all the pundits’ predictions of Richmond finishing last. The entire management team and (almost) all the players have welcomed him with open arms and it’s very obvious that Zava adores the attention.
The reason I say “almost” all the players is because there is one person in particular who doesn’t seem to understand this “fascination” with Zava: Jamie Tartt.
For as long as Jamie has been with AFC Richmond, he has always been the star player for them. But now that Zava has joined the team, he has taken over that position and Jamie is definitely not happy about it.
Jamie Tartt will certainly surpass by the end of Ted Lasso season 3. His redemption storyline is being built since S1 and now that Roy Kent has offered his coaching, Jamie will most likely be back at #1 striker for AFC Richmond.
Why isn’t Jamie pleased with Zava’s arrival?
From the moment Ted mentions that Zava might be joining AFC Richmond, Jamie hasn’t been as excited as everyone else to have the world-class striker on the team. He avoids any direct contact with Zava and doesn’t engage in any conversations praising the footballer.
All of this is simply because he is jealous that Zava is scoring all of their goals now and that he is being given special treatment, as compared to everybody else. Honestly, I can see where he’s coming from.
Jamie knows exactly what it’s like to be the “Zava” of the team and so it makes sense that he would be upset now that someone else (Zava) has stolen that pride from him.
On the other hand, all the coaches and Rebecca knew what to expect when they got Zava to sign with them. They know that Zava can be chaotic and a lot to handle but he’s winning matches and that’s all that matters to them.
Another reason why Jamie might not like Zava’s presence at AFC Richmond could be that he’s worried about Zava not learning to become a team player and instead stealing the spotlight from the other players.
After working so hard for the last two seasons to cooperate better with his teammates, Jamie could be concerned about Zava ruining all the progress the team has made together.
Will Jamie surpass Zava as the best player on the team?
At the end of episode 3, Roy and Jamie have a conversation where Roy offers to coach Jamie to be as good a player as Zava. Jamie then accepts this offer, of course, because he is not going to miss an opportunity to show Zava what he’s capable of.
I think we can expect Jamie and Zava to go head-to-head a couple of times, probably in future matches, where they’ll try to one-up each other and maybe score a goal before the other does. The main problem is that their rivalry could mess with Richmond’s success in the Premiere League, going forward.
We saw Jamie go through a lot of character development in seasons 1 and 2. He has become a much more empathetic person and has learnt to treat the people around him better. You can tell how far he’s come from his initial days with the team, when he rightly points out that it’s hypocritical for him, of all people, to complain about Zava’s behaviour.
Everything that Jamie has learnt about teamwork so far is going to be put to the test in the upcoming episodes when he is forced to go up against someone with a more personified ego than him. This will be a good chance for him to show everyone how much he’s grown. If he uses what he now knows to his advantage, he can certainly emerge the better player.
However, Zava isn’t entirely self-absorbed either because Rebecca calling him out on his flaws was very effective in convincing him to join AFC Richmond. And although Jamie hasn’t adjusted to Zava being on the team yet, deep inside he knows that this is what’s best for the team to win.
There’s no saying who will come out the winner in this battle but I’m sure that atleast by the end of the championship, both Jamie and Zava will learn good sportsmanship. I believe that they will eventually settle their differences the peaceful way, and do it for the benefit of the team.
Either way, all the coaches – Ted, Beard, and Roy – have their work cut out for them or it’s going to be interesting to see how the rivalry between Jamie and Zava plays out.
About Ted Lasso
Ted Lasso is an American sports-comedy streaming TV series developed by Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, Joe Kelly, and Brendan Hunt. It’s based on a character of the same name that Sudeikis first portrayed in a series of promos for NBC Sports’ coverage of the Premier League.
It follows the life of Ted Lasso, a coach of college-level American football who is unexpectedly recruited to coach an English Premier League team, AFC Richmond, despite having no experience at all in association football.
It stars Sudeikis as the titular character, Ted Lasso, joined by Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, Juno Temple, and Sarah Niles among many others.
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