Leftovers — Everything Changes

Karlo Tasler
3 min readJan 25, 2021
A man wants Christian Pulisic’s autograph. Photo: Karlo Tasler

There is not much left. Just a few supporters, risking to be fined for breaching the government rules while waiting to see their favourite players driving away of the stadium. Fans are hopeful. They have shirts and flags ready to be signed, but the players are well instructed, so the most fans can get are players lowering car windows and sharing a few words with them.

Fans waiting for the players. Photo: Karlo Tasler

The world has changed, and it will never be the same again. Which is fine. It is supposed to change. Every change is a step forward on the path of evolution. If we, somehow, against the laws of the Universe, managed to go back to what was before, that would only mean at one point we would again come back here where we are now.
In some different times hundreds of fans used to come here, position themselves behind the fence, reach out their hands and wait for players to high five them, one by one. Player after player. Disgusting!
Were we so regressive beings just a year ago to think it was ok offering the player a hand? The same hand the other player has high fived just a second ago, the same hand that was used to hold the bar on the train before exiting the tube here at the Fulham Broadway station.

Photo: Karlo Tasler

Norms are changing. Never again, even once the whole world is vaccinated, football players will be high fiving fans. That won’t be a norm any more. Only punks will shake hands. They will be marginalised just like everybody else who has not acted according to norms, since the beginning of civilisation.

A man in the white jacket trying to reach Hakim Ziyech. Photo: Karlo Tasler

Just look at this guy in the white jacket for example. It was snowing earlier, and he came on the bicycle. That’s why his jacket is so dirty. He claims to be a friend of Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech. He spots his apparent friend in the car and tries to introduce himself, but it seems Ziyech can’t recognise him. He starts running after the car to prove his point. With 50 thousand daily cases of COVID-19 daily in the country, this might not be the right time to try to enter somebody’s car, but that guy will have shaken Ziyech’s hand once this pandemic is over.

A man in the white jacket running after Hakim Ziyech. Photo: Karlo Tasler

Stadiums won’t be full either. Now, when the epidemiologists are here to remind us there is always some virus ready for the war with humanity, people will stay safe. People will stay at home. Amazon, BT, and Sky will be providing hologram sports packages where we will be able to shake hands with the likes of Azpilicueta and Pulišić from our sofa. After this pandemic, we will be further away from each other than ever before. The era of technology is yet to begin.

No tickets available. Photo: Karlo Tasler

Anyways, Frank Lampard was sacked as Chelsea manager this morning after yesterday’s victory in the FA Cup against Luton. Thomas Tuchel is a new manager. He is German, he will stick to the rules.

César Azpilicueta. Photo: Karlo Tasler

--

--

Karlo Tasler

Explaining the complexity of life and its various perspectives through the beautiful game of football. Or rather the tragic game of football, so to speak.