Ted Lasso Season 3: AFC Richmond Has No Business Winning The Premier League
Contains spoilers for "Ted Laso" Season 3, Episode 4
After a significant loss orchestrated by their former ally, the undeserving-of-what's-coming-to-him Nathan Shelley (Nick Mohammed), AFC Richmond is slightly on the back foot after a chain of epic wins this season. The Greyhounds have been climbing up the board after starting at the bottom, and it's thanks to their new hot shot, Zava (Maximilian Osinski). Their fresh defeat, however, marks their first significant hiccup, which could leave lasting effects. But the question isn't if this recent hammering will be something they can overcome; it's if they should keep rising up the league at all.
Let's face it. In this heartwarming world of shortbread deliveries and enemies becoming friends, the main goal of the last season of "Ted Lasso" is to see Richmond lift a trophy in the finale. The underdogs have run around the track for some time now, taking hits but showing brief glimmers of potential to succeed. They deserve it.
... or should that be "deserved"? As things stand right now, regardless of what the league table might say, it doesn't feel like the Richmond we know and love has turned up so far, and it's all down to one new addition to the ranks.
Zava scoring goals leaves major gaps in Richmond
In last week's episode, it's made clear that new MVP Zava, who is based on real players, delivered results. That might help the team's ranking, but it feels like this spotlight-stealing soccer player is committing the same crimes as former MVP Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), who is ironically the only one noticing. And yes, it is ironic. We checked. Back off, Beard.
In Season 1, Jamie is the one hogging all the goals and not working with his teammates. It's what leads to his departure and subsequent groveling return, after which he eventually learns the error of his ways. In Zava's case, though, it seems that everyone but Jamie is willing to let it slide. This includes the coaching staff, which is composed of two characters that had the biggest issue with Jamie's past antics.
While it's great that Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) is lending Jamie a hand, it feels like, given past experiences, he would be the first to call out Zava. But he's not. The same can be said for Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), who butts heads with Jamie throughout Season 1 but is happy to let Zava take the helm, with the star player dropping words of wisdom to the team that aren't leaving much of a lasting impact. Sure, Lasso might have his issues at the moment, but that's precisely what else the show needs to address.
Jamie and Roy could get Ted Lasso and Richmond back where it needs to be
This might sound like we're dunking on the final season of "Ted Lasso" when really, that's not the case at all. Nothing would be more satisfying than seeing our favorite stars of the show not necessarily getting what they want but as this season's official trailer teases, what they need. Part of that could and should be a Premier League victory, but to do that, more time needs to be spent with the players both on the pitch and in practice. In the previous two seasons, we admittedly saw one more than the other, with players frantically touching each other's feet fingers but big matches often feeling skirted over. Now is the time, more than ever, to change tactics, and hopefully, Tartt is the way to do it.
This slow team-up of Roy and Jamie could see them work together to get Richmond back to a better version of themselves and in turn, spend as much time off the pitch as on. We know that "Ted Lasso" thrives in the locker room and by making use of heartfelt combinations, but this is still a show about a soccer team. If they start actually acting like one again, maybe we can take the goldfish approach and forget that they currently feel like an absent squad in time to accept that the winning stage is where they belong.