Rebecca choosing Ted was a carefully considered choice. She needed to choose someone she thought was incompetent, but someone that she could pass off as an out of the box choice as to not make her plan of sabotage obvious, Ted being a successful American College Football coach but having a compete unfamiliarity with the sport he was being hired to coach fits her requirements, though she mistakes Ted’s unfamiliarity with Association Football as incompetence and failed to understand why he was successful in coaching American Football in the first place.
During the first training session, Coach Beard describes Roy to Ted as a "classic, old-school box-to-box midfielder". The prevalence of box-to-box midfielders in the sport has declined during the 2010s, due to changes in playing and formation trends, showing how Roy's Glory Days are over and his career is on its last legs.
Zoreaux acting as the "quarterback" during the Lasso Special play makes perfect sense, not just because he's the goalkeeper but because, being from Canada, Zoreaux would naturally be a lot more familiar with gridiron football than his European/African/Mexican teammates and know how a quarterback acts during the "pre snap".
As well, Sam gets "put in motion" prior to the start of the play. Pre-snap motion is used occasionally in the NFL, but is a requirement in the CFL, which the Montrealer Zoreaux would be familiar with.
On the face of it, Rebecca and Sam unwittingly connecting on Bantr seems like an unlikely plot contrivance. But when you think about it, Bantr is introduced as a new social networking app that Keeley helped launch and promote by arranging the sponsorship deal with Richmond. When Rebecca and Sam started using it there may have only been a few dozen people on there, thus making it much more plausible that they’d find each other.
In addition, in their first scene together in Season 1's "Two Aces", Sam is the one who goes to Rebecca to ask if she would play in part in lifting the recovery room curse. Rebecca is flattered when she initially misinterprets him as asking her out, and Sam says, "You are so lovely, you must get romantic invitations all the time." Though neither was romantically interested at the time, the spark of attraction was there from their first onscreen conversation - the app allowed them to connect on a deeper level without having to worry about their respective age difference or roles in the club.
Jamie wears the number "9" shirt — in European football, a number traditionally given to the team's main striker — whilst playing for AFC Richmond, despite only being signed on loan from Manchester City, where he was assigned the number "51". However, this shows how far down the pecking order Jamie is at his home club, and how much Richmond valued his talents.
Nate destroying the "Believe" sign in the Season 2 finale wasn't a spur of the moment decision — he's not tall enough to reach the sign without a standing on something, so he would need to find a way to reach the sign before tearing it in two. He actively goes out of his way to be petty and destroy the sign. Further evidence for this is that he didn't just leave the torn up sign where it fell, he deliberately left it on Ted's desk.
This would later be confirmed during the following season, with footage being discovered of Nate destroying the sign.
Many of the trailers for season two use "Under Pressure" as a backing track. Without the context of the season's story and character arcs, it just seems like a fun, groovy song to tie the clips together. However, after viewing the full season, with the team's lackluster performance until the end, Ted's struggles with his mental health, Nate's increasing need for validation, Jamie returning to Richmond and dealing with his father, and so on, the song choice becomes much more appropriate.
Ted even directly references "Under Pressure" in a conversation with Dr. Sharon, showing more proof that the writers had the song in mind from early on.
Sam's favorite movie being Ratatouille makes perfect sense. As Keeley explains to Rebecca, the movie is about "how good art can come from anywhere". Sam is a Nigerian who resents how much of the world looks down on his country and Africa as a whole for their perceived "primitiveness" and knows that they actually have a lot of great culture to offer.
Edwin Akufo having the museum filled with actors is a subtle hint that his offer to Sam is an act, given his reaction to his offer to buy out his contract so that he can work for him. Also, he kept doing things that show that he already believes that Sam leaving Richmond is a foregone conclusion, which shows that he felt entitled to having Sam on the team.
He also left his helicopter in the middle of the field so that the players had to practice around it, showing Akufo has no consideration for others' space, including Sam's.
In "Diamond Dogs", while trying to help Roy with his relationship problems, Nate points out to Roy that being loved by Keeley must be wonderful. While this comes off as an attempt to get Roy to appreciate what he has, Nate's moves towards Keeley in Season 2 indicate this was a sign of his own jealousy and latent feelings towards Keeley.
Ted demonstrates that he's still incredibly unfamiliar with the basics of soccer in Season 3, despite the fact that he's been coaching a professional soccer team for more than a season by this point. Like with his mental health woes in Season 2, this demonstrates Ted's great personal flaw: although he is curious and perceptive of what's going on around him, he has great difficulty seeing what's going on within himself and an unwillingness to work on his own issues. Instead, he chooses to mask his insecurities and shortcomings through glib cheerfulness and makes wisecracks until the subject can be shifted away from him.
However, he is also shown to be slowly improving his soccer knowledge in Season 3 (In "Smells Like Mean Spirit", he picks up on what 4-4-2 means right away, which impresses Beard) at the same time that he is slowly improving his ability to deal with his own issues (telling Michelle how he really feels about her dating Dr. Jacob, pulling out of an oncoming panic attack, avoiding his usual coping mechanism of alcohol). While the flaw is still there, it is getting better.
He finally gets the offside rule right in their last match against West Ham, spotting that 14 was off before Beard and Roy do — thus the point that just got scored doesn't count and Richmond are still in the game. This occurs after he spends the season learning to be honest with himself and face emotional moments directly rather than deflecting. Meaning, as Ted opens himself up to his pain and vulnerability, he's also opening himself up to the rules and intricacies of soccer rather than joking about how funny and strange it seems.
During his time as a pundit on Soccer Saturday, Roy refuses to directly comment on a young player's performance during a game, only saying that he's a 17-year-old who will probably just "have chips for dinner and a wank before bed". In Season 3 it's revealed that Trent Crimm's scathing commentary on Roy's professional debut when Roy himself was only 17 years old emotionally devastated him at the time; it now makes sense why he wouldn't insult a 17-year-old player despite how brutally honest he usually is, because he knows what it was like to be criticized by the press at that age.
In Season 3, Jamie shows that he's knowledgeable about older vocalists like Tina Turner and Stevie Nicks. He must have picked up a thing or two while he was dating Keeley as she is shown introducing Phoebe to classic rock in Season 1.
In "Big Week", Roy and Beard wrack their brains trying to outmaneuver Nate's tactical prowess during the match against West Ham, and decide to take drastic measures. They show the Richmond players the security footage of Nate ripping up the 'Believe' sign to motivate them. In other words, an exact repetition of Nate's idea at the end of Season 1 to psych up the squad by showing them Jamie's pre-match interview. Not only did Roy and Beard unwittingly copy their foe, they repeated the one strategy that failed. Angering the Richmond players did not result in victory then, nor does it work here. Rage is a terrible motivator in a sport requiring focus, skill, and teamwork; Richmond's loss to West Ham went from a probability to a certainty once the players let their judgment be clouded.
In "Trent Crimm, The Independent", Nate makes a comment that, "Someone's been walking the dog here, I found another poo!" The dog in question was likely Earl Greyhound, who wouldn't show up on screen until Season 2. And promptly get killed off. So even though Earl only came up directly in Season 2, there are signs he was around in Season 1 in the background.
Jamie is the one to provide a fix Richmond's struggles with the Total Football system - Jamie played in a version of the system at Manchester City under Pep Guardiolla, so it makes sense he would realise what needed to change.
Jade being one of the few characters to see through Rupert's charm makes perfect sense. As a restaurant hostess, she'd have to deal with a lot of customers who put on a Nice to the Waiter act to get perks and have the experience to discern between people who are genuinely nice and those who just want special treatment.
Dani/Zoreaux's dynamic in "International Break" leading up to, and during, their international friendly as players for Mexico and Canada is very appropriate. Mexico is a country where soccer, especially the Mexican national team, is the top sport and Serious Business. So naturally, Dani would take the match very seriously and refuse to be chummy with his opponent. On the other hand, soccer's popularity in Canada has traditionally lagged behind sports like ice hockey, lacrosse, Canadian football, etc. and the Canadian national team has seen very little historical success. Thus, it's only natural that Zoreaux wouldn't treat the match as personally as Dani does.
Dani also previously revealed, "I haven’t been this nervous to play in front of someone since I was in El Chapo’s Youth League”. Having your career watched over by the Mexican mafia, as a child, will likely make you take the sport more seriously than most people.
In "Mom City" it's revealed Ted and Beard used be special teams guys during their college days, which perfectly mirrors their career in England. Not only do kickers and punters happen to be the only positions in American football that actually play the ball with their feetnote on rare occasions, the quarterback will do what’s called a “quick kick” for strategic reasons, they're also two frequently ridiculed positions due to their limited role in the regular flow of the game. Very much like Ted and Beard weren't regarded as actual football coaches, plenty of fans insist that special teams aren't actual football players. And just like Ted's coaching staff turns out to be wildly underestimated, many great American football games have been decided by excellent special teams performances.
It makes sense that George Cartrick would refuse to obey Rupert's order to deliberately injure Jamie in "So Long, Farewell". Cartrick was Jamie's manager back when Jamie was on loan to Richmond by Manchester City and right before Rebecca fired Cartrick. With Jamie being the team's undisputed star player during that period, it's natural that Cartrick would be fond of him back then and to this day. Another hint towards his standards came a few episodes prior, when Isaac ran into the stands to confront an unruly fan; Cartrick called him out for it and asserted that there are lines that should not be crossed. The audience likely saw him as a jerk for it, but he established himself there as a stickler for the rules in spite of his negative attitude.
Ultimately, the "Believe" sign isn't replaced with a new one. Instead, Nate repairs it with gold glitter glue, putting it back together but highlighting where it had been damaged. This is in reference to the art of Kintsugi, a Japanese method of repairing broken ceramics with precious metals to acknowledge the damage as part of an object's history and to show that something broken can be fixed and continue to have value. It also serves as a visual representation of character journeys, including:
Nate doesn't achieve redemption in his Season 3 arc. Instead, he achieves catharsis — an emotional cleansing. His betrayals aren't forgiven in any way, but he and those around him let go their resentments and hard feelings to move forward, heal their relationships and grow stronger as a result.
Jamie admits that his entire career was built on anger, hatred, and resentment towards his father. Upon realizing that he's achieved personal growth, this motivation suddenly feels hollow and his on-field performance suffers. Taking Ted's suggestion that he simply let those negative emotions go, Jamie is able to regain his spark and play even better than ever as he's not burdened emotionally anymore. In the end, it even allows him to take the first steps toward rebuilding his relationship with his father as a healthier one regardless of the senior Tartt's past horrific behavior.
Beard revealing that he went to prison explains a lot of why he is such a private person, especially in comparison to Ted. Beard has a lot more to hide than Ted does, and likely doesn't want to cause people to scrutinize him or Ted for something in his past. He doesn't even tell Trent where he's from until after he sees Roy committing the tie-dye look, since seeing Roy loosen up inspired Beard to do the same.
Leslie gagging when seeing Beard and Jane’s toxic relationship makes sense. Considering how stable his marriage is compared to all the other relationships seen in the series, his gagging was him reacting to something he was unfamiliar and uncomfortable with: a toxic relationship. He can’t imagine a life in which he has a such a relationship with his wife.
Richmond's Season 3 winning streak is set to "Prisencolinensinainciusol" by Adriano Celentano. The lyrics sound like they could be American English but are clearly gibberish once listeners start paying attention. This is reflective of the team's performance — Richmond looks to be in good shape but close look would show that a good chunk of the roster is actually underperforming and that the surge is being driven entirely by one player, Zava, which is indicative of deep problems that need to be addressed.
While Nate and Jade did not start going out together until Season 3, the fact that they first interact on screen in Season 2's "Rainbow", the romantic comedy-inspired episode, foreshadows their future romance. The fact that Nate manages to impress Jade with his assertiveness in that episode also becomes more impressive in hindsight, knowing that Jade is not easily impressed and can spot fakes a mile away, as seen when she doesn't regard him as well after his Face–Heel Turn in Season 3 before he defends the restaurant.
Several lines or scenes in S1 and early S2 read very different after you find out Ted Lasso more or less witnessed his father's suicide at the age of 16.
In the pilot, Rebecca asks Ted "Do you believe in ghosts, Ted?" And Ted responds, "I do. But more importantly, I think they need to believe in themselves. You know?"
In "For the Children", Ted jovially references a Noodle Incident were he shows up at the prom at the age of 17 in his pajamas and ends the night getting arrested. While this is played for laughs, it hits a lot differently by the end of Season 2, once we learned he witnessed his father's suicide at age 16 and used/uses alcohol as a coping mechanism.
Ted's speech in "The Hope That Kills You": "So I've been hearing this phrase y'all got over here that I ain't too crazy about. "It's the hope that kills you." Y'all know that? I disagree, you know? I think it's the lack of hope that comes and gets you." Ouch.
Watching Ted mime his own suicide in that conversation with Rebecca was uncomfortable enough the first time. It's downright alarming once you realize what Ted's struggling with.
In "Lavender" when Jamie asks Ted if his father was hard on him too, Ted responds that his father was always a lot harder on himself. Jamie says he's lucky then and Ted makes a noncommittal face.
In "Carol of the Bells", Ted thanks Rebecca for getting him out of the house on Christmas, having been depressed over spending the holiday away from his family. When she arrives, Ted is drinking on the couch watching It's a Wonderful Life, specifically looking at the scene of George Bailey's suicide attempt with a sympathetic expression. Ted later remarks to Rebecca that if he had been left alone like that, things "could have gotten dark". It's a sad line to begin with, but hearing it knowing that Ted's father killed himself, and knowing the real-life statistics of both depression during the holiday season and Hereditary Suicide, it becomes much more troubling.
The joke in Season 1 about Colin's grandmother never speaking to him again after Cardiff City got relegated while he was on the team was already Harsher in Hindsight thanks to the reveal of Colin's major self-worth issues in Season 2, but it gets even worse when you realize that in real life, Cardiff City was relegated in 2014 and 2019. It's not clear which season Colin is meant to have played for Cardiff, but either option is pretty bad:
If he played for them in 2018-2019, it means that he suffered the embarrassment and misery of relegation two years in a row, since Richmond gets relegated at the end of the 2019-2020 season. It also means his falling-out with his grandmother and her death must have been relatively recent when he brings it up in Season 1.
If he played for them in 2013-2014, he would have been only eighteen or nineteen years old at the time, since he's meant to be in his mid-twenties at the time the show is set. This would mean his grandmother cut him off until she died just because his team got relegated when he was a teenager playing what was almost certainly his first season as a professional. No wonder the guy has trouble feeling strong and capable.
It gets even worse after the sexuality reveal in Season 3. Colin's already had the experience of a loved one rejecting him, and that was just over a football team relegation. Whether it was 2014 or 2019, Colin already knew he was gay — if his own grandmother could stop speaking to him over a relegation, what would his family and friends do if they found out what he was? It makes the already daunting idea of coming out as a professional footballer even scarier for Colin, and explains why, even when he was 99% sure he would be accepted, the 1% chance he wouldn't kept him from telling his best friend.
And to top it all off, "Sunflowers" reveals his teammate Roy also struggles with a dead grandparent's last words to him, only that relationship was decidedly more positive.
In "La Locker Room Aux Folles": there are many unsexy topics one can think about in order to get rid of an embarrassing Raging Stiffie. Which one does Colin choose? Climate change, an existential threat to the entire planet. Think about how often professional footballers need to shower simultaneously.
In "Mom City", Jamie’s mom is shown to be on the younger side, and this becomes even more apparent when you look at her compared to James Tartt. While this could be an insignificant casting choice, it also raises questions about how, why, and when Georgie gave birth to Jamie….
The specific horror of this is dowplayed, however, when one thinks about the fact that substance abuse can prematurely age a person. James could easily be in his forties (a comparable age to Georgie, if she gave birth to Jamie in her twenties) and just look older.
An In-Universe example in Man City. When Jamie's father storms the locker room, you can see the dawning horror on everyone's face as they realize Jamie was raised by a physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive man who pushed him to gain personal glory at any cost. Notably, after this, no one gives him shit for how he'd acted the prior season and are much more likely to include him; a result of this context for his actions combined with his already shown attempts to atone and be a better person.
Sam's father only brings up the terrible practices of Dubai Air's parent company after Sam does a photo shoot for them, even though Sam has been playing with the company's name across his chest since the first season. Was Mr. Obisanya holding off on saying anything until Sam brought Dubai Air up himself?
Many companies with enough resources to sponsor a Premiere League team are likely to be participating in some unethical practices; blaming Sam for simply having had the bad luck to be signed by a team sponsored by a shady corporation would have been unkind and unfair. Mr. Obisanya only took issue when Sam expressed that he was thrilled to become the advertising face of that company. Sam wasn't responsible for his team's corporate sponsor, but enthusiastically sharing his cool photoshoot and expecting his parents' approval for the free tickets was different.
When Rebecca realizes that Sam is the charming mystery man she's been chatting with on Bantr, she's horrified by their age difference. So ... how did she get matched with a 21-year-old in the first place? Does Bantr not let you set a preferred age range for your matches?
Probably not. It seems the app focuses entirely on the users' personalities without any regards to physical appearance, background, age, etc. As shown onscreen, it's not entirely practical. Keeley describes it as a new app that's only just being launched, so clearly there are some bugs to work out.
in the sport has declined during the 2010s, due to changes in playing and formation trends, showing how Roy's Glory Days are over and his career is on its last legs.