They are also both foreigners to England-though Ted Lasso does not make them the butt of the joke, they’re never really given further development apart from the fact that they’re really good at soccer and they’re not English. Both feel more like tools to move the plot forward than real characters in the show. These characters are sent, almost deus ex machinas, solely to solve Jamie’s problems. In fact, in its first season, Ted Lasso used Dani with nearly the exact same purpose as they’re using Zava now. As Zava reigns the supreme leader of Richmond AFC, gaining the respect of everyone on the team and scoring an unspeakable number of goals, Jamie is forced to reckon with the fact that he’s not “the best” anymore.īut was he ever the best? Ted Lasso Season 1 would like us to believe Dani is better than Jamie. Zava has been sent into the Ted Lasso universe to humble Jamie, who still has a major ego problem. The purpose of Zava within the realm of Ted Lasso, though, isn’t just to keep seeing Richmond AFC succeed. ‘The Big Door Prize’ Is the ‘Ted Lasso’ Antidote We NeedĪlas, they’re still worried, which is why the team brings in Zava, to help improve their standings in the Premier League.

They shouldn’t be so concerned about it if they have three killers (Dani, Sam, and Jamie) playing on one team. But no, Richmond AFC is struggling to stay in the Premier League, with big concerns over being re-relegated down to the English Football League all over again. We’ve spent the last two seasons filtering through star players-there have only been three seasons, and we’ve now had four of them-which makes sense, if we’re talking about a team that’s good at football. Though Dani caught “the yips” after shooting a soccer ball straight into the team’s mascot (a dog) in Season 2, he rebounded thanks to the help of Sam Obisanya, the new star player for Richmond AFC in the show’s second season. When Jamie was benched for foul behavior, he was replaced by Dani Rojas who, on top of being a better player, had a better attitude about the game. In the first season, Jamie Tartt was the hot player of the hour, teasing legacy player Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) as he prepared to retire. So when I heard that there would be a new footballer in the mix in this third and final season, I was elated to see Osinski in early previews (especially since he’s married to fellow Apple TV+ royalty, Severance’s Dichen Lachman). Therapist Sharon (Sarah Niles) took some warming up to, but in the end, she proved to be a wonderful addition to spotlight Ted’s (Jason Sudeikis) struggles with anxiety. Rebecca’s pal Sassy (Ellie Taylor) was a grand addition to the middle of Season 1, as was plucky Dani Rojas.

New Ted Lasso characters have usually proven to be delightful. Why? Why, now, is Sam no longer a player to watch? How come Jamie isn’t as good as he was in the second season? And what about star player Dani-did he never really shake himself out of “the yips”? There have been three star players on this football team before Zava-though Jamie spent a bit of time playing for Manchester-and yet, it takes Zava to make the team truly great. Now, Richmond AFC has a new star player in Zava (Maximilian Osinski). Finally, last season, Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh) was the belle of the ball, winning over sponsors to the extent that he was offered a huge deal to create a brand new African Football Club-which he politely declined to stay with Ted). Then, there was Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández), Jamie’s replacement, known for killer headshots and an exceptionally positive attitude. First there was Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), the “Baby Shark”-singing egomaniac who went on to star on a faux version of Love Island. In each new season of Ted Lasso, I’ve fallen in love with a new “best player” of the year.

Tools like magic lasso