3 super witty pop culture references you may have missed in 'Ted Lasso' season 2

• "Ted Lasso" season two airs weekly on AppleTV+.
• The acclaimed comedy is known for its clever and witty pop culture references.
• Below, Insider has complied a spoiler-free breakdown of some of the show's best pop culture references.

Halfway through "Ted Lasso" season two, AFC Richmond, the fictional English soccer team managed by Jason Sudeikis' hopeless yet hyper-positive American coach, are on a historic losing streak. During a team meeting, Lasso stands up before the dressing room and proclaims: "I hear the chatter, people saying there's something wrong with us, but that's not the way I see it and here's why: I believe in communism."

At the gasp of his players and staff, he elaborates: "Rom-communism, that is." According to Lasso, Rom-communism is an approach to life that is based on the philosophical principle - often trafficked by romantic comedies of the 1990s and 2000s - that everything will always work out in the end.

This conversation, like many others during the second season of "Ted Lasso," trails off into an extended appreciation of popular culture and contemporary American cinema.

"I enjoy Renée Zellweger in all her 'Bridget Jones' movies," one player offers. "Her accent is pitch-perfect and her gift for physical comedy is grossly underrated."

These references and call-backs are cleverly woven into the show's dialogue and often provide astute examinations of American popular culture. However, they aren't always as identifiable as Lasso's Rom-Communist manifesto, so Insider has complied a spoiler-free break-down of some of the best cinematic and pop culture references to watch out for as "Ted Lasso" airs weekly on AppleTV+.

Ted Lasso is a big fan of Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 film 'Magnolia'

"Ted Lasso" season two opens with a bizarre and fatal sequence involving a crucial penalty kick and an elderly greyhound, which leaves one of AFC Richmond's star players, Dani Rojas, convinced that he has "The Yips" - an unrelenting sports curse.

During a training session, Lasso attempts to comfort Rojas and tells him that the incident was simply a tragic coincidence "not too dissimilar from those seen throughout Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 opus 'Magnolia.'"

This is, of course, a reference to the string of wild events, including a plague of raining frogs that unfold over the course of Anderson's dizzying three-hour San Fernando Valley drama. However, there is a second more subtle "Magnolia" reference later in the episode. During the scene, AFC Richmond's owner Rebecca Welton is conflicted about whether to dump her boyfriend when the song "Wise Up" by American singer-songwriter Aimee Mann floods the scene.

Keen observes will note that "Wise Up" is one of the singles from the "Magnolia" soundtrack and is performed during the film.

AFC Richmond's club therapist is named after the therapist from 'Sleepless in Seattle'

Early on in season two, AFC Richmond's coaching staff recruit a club therapist called Dr. Sharon Fieldstone - whose name, considering the show's noted fondness for romantic comedies, is surely a reference to Dr. Marcia Fieldstone, the radiotherapist in Nora Ephron's classic "Sleepless in Seattle" - to help remedy Dani Rojas's debilitating Yips.

Throughout the season, Fieldstone's presence allows the show to lightly confront several misconceptions about therapy and highlight the importance of mental health, particularly in male-dominated sports. Initially, Dr. Fieldstone and Ted Lasso's relationship is oddly strained with Fieldstone unimpressed by Lasso's Southern charms and Lasso uncomfortable with the idea of therapy.

But events slowly draw the pair closer together and hints of romance begin to emerge. At the end of episode two, the pair share a heartfelt discussion where Fieldstone tells Lasso that her favorite novel is Pat Conroy's "The Prince of Tides." In the book, which was adapted for the screen by Barbra Streisand in 1991, a psychiatrist starts a relationship with her patient.

Throughout season two, Ted Lasso has a collection of hilarious film-related one-liners

Almost every part of the "Ted Lasso" universe has been enhanced for the second season. There are now scenes that look like they have been shot at real-life locations in London, not studio stages. And we see the famous Wembley stadium. Although the action soccer sequences still leave much to be desired (for those who are familiar with soccer fictionalizations, think of the match sequences in the misguided film series "Goal" as a reference).

But the biggest improvement has come in the quality of Ted Lasso's frequent one-line jokes. In season 1, Lasso's jokes are corny and mostly by design. In season 2, he is quicker and funnier. During a press conference following a loss, for example, Lasso tells an adversarial journalist to "make like Dunst and Union and bring it on," a clever reference to the 2000 cult sports comedy "Bring It On," which starred Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union.

As "Ted Lasso" season two becomes a little darker and we start to learn more about the potentially traumatic origins of Sudeikis' charming character, these improved jokes allow the show to strike a unique and complex balance between its philosophical ambitions and the slapstick comedy that won over audiences as well as Emmy voters.