I told you so! I warned that Keeley (Juno Temple) was making a super stumble in hooking up with her boss, Jack (Jodi Balfour) and that boring Barbara (Katy Wix) was not going to let it go. Anyone who reads Miscelana knows how much I hate the oppressive CFO. Lucky for Keeley there are only a few episodes to go so the headache should be light. I’m saying this because although the “post-Amsterdam” episode was one of the rare ones where football dominated the narrative, of course, we are in Ted Lasso and everything is also a metaphor for life. “Total football” works with geometry and triangles and all the love triangles paraded in front of us, using sports tactics to alert teachings off the field.

Let’s start with Keeley, who makes the mistake of mending love relationships to forget the previous one, in general, mixing work too. In the first two seasons the plays were between Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) and Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), then between her Roy and Phoebe’s teacher and, fatally, between her, Roy and her career. Because Roy and Jamie are resolving their triangle, Keeley also thinks there is no triangle between her and Jack, but she is wrong.

The comparisons of Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) between Jack and Rupert (Anthony Head) were forced because I am innocent but I believe in Jack’s intentions. What is also clear is that Jack has a side of Roy that Keeley loathed: smothering his partner. Do you know the attention that borders on stalking? Knowing where Keeley is having dinner with Rebecca and paying the bill, filling the office with flowers, etc. “All that glitters is not gold,” warns Rebecca. The best advice however was “Don’t ignore your instinct”. Keeley is sabotaging herself emotionally and professionally and it’s clear to me that her happy ending will be not dating anyone. At least until she sorts out her self-esteem.

If Keeley knew about strategy, she would see that in her case ‘total football’ is important: she needs to keep possession of the ball – her career and individuality -; master movement – ​​as she did, imposing herself on her team -; and finally, which he hasn’t done yet, swapping positions that would avoid mixing the stations of work and love. That way he would take full advantage of the playing field. I’m rooting for Keeley.

A visit from Sam Obisanya’s (Toheeb Jimoh) father, Ola (Nonso Anozie) reminds us of the triangle between the player, Rebecca, and Simi (Precious Mustapha) and warns us that there is something between Sam and Simi. Ola is Sam’s moral compass and, like Simi, encourages him to embrace the world’s most pertinent discussions: the environment, racism, xenophobia, etc. At heart, Sam may be young but he’s mature enough to deal with relationships. And for getting involved in politics, he is a target of the extreme right that destroys Ola’s just when he was going to receive his father. AFC Richmond is now more than a team, it’s a family, and Sam manages to overcome the obstacle with care, love, and support. In English, Ola’s advice is to “Don’t fight back. Fight forward” makes more sense in the football parallel and is still quite emotional.

For us #tedbecca fans, the trolling continues to keep the two at bay. It still bothers me that with all the team’s failures, considering she wanted so badly to avoid humiliation in front of Rupert, Rebecca is still acting like a teenager, recounting the “magical” night she had with the unknown Dutchman and not addressing the more practical things. that will change your life in the near future. And it is, of course, another triangle! Without Sam, Ted now has the shadow of a one-night stand with a stranger to thwart his strategy. We believe in you, Ted!

Nothing about Colin’s (Billy Harris) secret was highlighted, Roy and Jamie are fine and incidentally, Jamie is effectively ANOTHER person altogether. Two of Ted’s original missions have been achieved, it remains to save the team from relegation. He warns once again that his stay in London is fleeting when fans complain about his poor professional performance. “The team is theirs, we only have it on loan”, he comments. It may be practicality, but it partly explains the apparent lack of commitment.

I don’t care at all for Nate (Nick Mohammed) to interrupt the stories I need in order to see him get what he wants. I’m spiteful and I’m not ready to forgive him. Getting the girlfriend he always dreamed of was another victory, from what we saw at the family dinner, the father is already better with him, it only remains to see how Rupert will treat him when he realizes that he still hasn’t corrupted him completely. I remember the trailer in which we see Henry (Gus Turner), with Ted, in the stands cheering on an embarrassed Nate. Certainly the championship final, but seeing Ted off the field signals to us that 1) AFC Richmond should not be there or 2) AFC Richmond will have another manager. There’s little left to discover the answer.

The episode The Strings That Bind Us is yet another hint from the writers that nothing is loose, the connection will be made. The strings, which are used to teach Johan Cruyff‘s tactic where players are close enough to cover each other, but far enough away for them to create plays, take on another perspective when it’s what all characters need to adopt in their personal lives. Roy is the brightest to cut the message short: the player’s bow is made on the penis, not the little finger. Their panic makes for one of the funniest and most uncomfortable sequences, but it works. Good thing because the former player’s proposal was to tie everyone to a single player, which of course would be Jamie. We will be mercifully spared of it.

Emphasizing interconnection as the password that will help everyone comes from an excited Trent Crimm (James Vance), who bets that the strategy will work. The episode may have seemed stagnant, a bit obvious, and even too long, but as always, I believe in Ted Lasso!