On the surface, Ted Lasso is a fun show with great characters and an excellent location — although I may be slightly biased about that last one. But you don’t have to dig very deep to see that there is a lot more going on.
As I mentioned in the first post of this series, Ted Lasso is about far more than football. It touches on kindness, friendship and mental health, but never in a way that feels heavy-handed. For me, many of its best moments are the ones that quietly make you think.
It is also about what it means to be part of a team in a much wider sense. Sometimes, that team is simply the people you choose to have around you.
Along the way, the show offers a few lessons that are surprisingly useful off the pitch.
Be Curious, Not Judgemental
Without a doubt, “Be curious, not judgemental” is one of the most memorable lines from Ted Lasso.
Ted delivers it during a game of darts with Rupert Mannion, the series’ true antagonist, played by the late, great Anthony Head. Rupert has underestimated Ted from the moment they met. He sees an American with a strong accent who knows very little about football and assumes there is nothing more to him.
The problem is that Rupert never bothers to ask questions. Had he been a little more curious, he might have discovered that Ted spent much of his childhood playing darts.
To me, this lesson is about asking questions instead of jumping to conclusions. It is a reminder not to judge someone entirely on a first impression.
I think we all struggle with that at times. Who hasn’t formed an opinion of someone based on how they present themselves or one silly thing they did?
We may not always have the chance to sit down and get to know that person, but we can still pause and wonder what might be going on beneath the surface. Sometimes, a little curiosity is enough to stop a first impression from becoming a lasting judgement.
Everyone Needs a Team
Being a series about football, exploring the idea of a team is a no-brainer. However, Ted Lasso takes that idea beyond the people on the pitch.
I’m very much an introvert, but even I recognise how important it is to have a team around you. By that, I mean people who support one another and who you can turn to without fear of judgement.
One of the best examples in Ted Lasso is the Diamond Dogs. The group forms towards the end of the first season and originally consists of Ted, Coach Beard, Nate and Director of Football Operations Leslie Higgins, played by Jeremy Swift.
What makes the Diamond Dogs so important, in my opinion, is that they are a group of men openly discussing their feelings and problems. Those conversations are often about relationships, but they are handled without the usual posturing or toxic nonsense.
I don’t want to generalise, but I think many men could benefit from that kind of environment — one where talking honestly is encouraged and supported. I would also argue that plenty of men probably crave it.
As Nate says just before the Diamond Dogs officially form, “Ever since I was little, I used to dream about sitting down with a bunch of mates talking about the complex dynamics between men and women.”
The Diamond Dogs represent something increasingly important — a safe place for men to talk about what is bothering them. They can be honest, ask for advice and occasionally howl like dogs, all without being judged.
Sometimes You Need to Talk About It
Ted Lasso doesn’t shy away from mental health. In fact, it tackles the subject head-on. Ted experiences his first panic attack in the seventh episode of the first season. I’ve never had a full-blown panic attack myself, but I’ve watched a loved one go through them, and the show’s depiction feels painfully accurate.
Ted’s denial that anything is wrong — and his resistance to seeking professional help — also feels very real. He masks his inner turmoil with his near-constant optimism, but it gradually becomes clear that he is hurting.
Dr Sharon, played by Sarah Niles, is introduced in the second season to help Dani Rojas, played by Cristo Fernández, through a difficult experience that affects his ability to play. Ted is deeply wary of therapists, so he is reluctant to bring her in at all.
With patience and gentle persistence, Dr Sharon helps Ted and other members of the team begin the process of healing.
The message that it is okay to seek professional help is woven naturally into the storyline. It is one of the things that makes the show feel so relatable and human.
Believe — but Maybe Have a Plan Too
If you know anything about Ted Lasso, you know about “Believe”. It is the sign Ted puts up in the club changing room on his first day as the team’s manager. It is also the word he leaves on sticky notes around his flat. If he had one, it would probably be Ted’s mantra.
Ted encourages the team to believe in themselves and in one another, even when there is little evidence that things are going to work out. That hope matters. It gives them something to hold on to when morale is low and everything seems to be going wrong.
But the show also makes it clear that belief is not magic. The team still has to train, communicate and learn from its mistakes. The same is true away from the pitch. The characters only begin to change when they face their problems and accept help from those around them.
Believing things will get better is helpful. Training, communicating and occasionally knowing the rules of football — which I do not — also come in handy.
These are just a few of the lessons from Ted Lasso that have stayed with me after countless rewatches. They are also part of the reason I recommend it to anyone I can. I want others to find the lessons that matter to them while still having a good laugh.
There is one more instalment to come, in which I’ll take a deeper dive into the character growth that makes Ted Lasso so good.
