Ted Lasso · Season 2, Episode 1, "Goodbye Earl"
Beard's sports psychology read: The Greatest
Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt)
Ted Lasso · S2 E1Sleuthed by @shelfsleuth
Buy The Greatest: The Quest for Sporting Perfectionfrom an indie, via Bookshop.org. Not the other guy.
What it tells you
Season two opens with Richmond stuck in a run of draws and Beard turning to a book about the psychology of winning. Book Riot puts it at the end of the first episode.
Every book in Ted Lasso33 books →
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The book
The Greatest: The Quest for Sporting Perfection
Matthew Syed · 2017 · nonfiction
Matthew Syed was England's top table tennis player and went to two Olympics before he wrote about performance. The book is about what separates winners from everyone else. Beard read it the same week the club hired a sports psychologist, which feels like a hedge.
Buy from an indieThe show
Sleuthed by @shelfsleuth · 2026-10-17
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Paused Tuesdays
One still, one stack, every Tuesday morning.
Also in Ted Lasso
All 33 books
Ted's welcome basket: The Ultimate Cockney Geezer's Guide to Rhyming SlangS1 E1
Beard's other flight book: Coaching Soccer For DummiesS1 E1
Beard's flight reading: Inverting the PyramidS1 E1
Ted's plane book: The Dharma BumsS1 E1
Beard's Bob Paisley biography: Quiet GeniusS1 E3
Robbie's gift from Ted: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar ChildrenS1 E3
Sam's gift from Ted: Ender's GameS1 E3
Jamie's gift from Ted: The Beautiful and DamnedS1 E3
Roy's assigned reading: A Wrinkle in TimeS1 E3
Beard's desk manual: The Arco Book of Soccer Techniques and TacticsS1 E6
Beard's Arsenal memoir: Fever PitchS2 E5
Beard's football and politics book: Football Against the EnemyS2 E6We may earn a commission when you buy through these links. Learn more ›