Roberto De Zerbi.. Why Doesn’t the Coach Always Give the Player the Solution?

يرى روبرتو دي زيربي أن دور المدرب لا يقتصر على إعطاء اللاعبين الحلول والتعليمات، بل يشمل مساعدتهم على فهم اللعبة والتفكير واتخاذ القرارات بأنفسهم. ويعتمد ذلك على وضع مبادئ واضحة، وتصميم مواقف تدريبية مناسبة، واستخدام الحوار والأسئلة لمساعدة اللاعب على فهم سبب القرار، وليس تنفيذه بصورة آلية.

How does Roberto De Zerbi develop players who can think and make decisions instead of simply following instructions? Discover the coach’s role in creating an environment that helps players find solutions themselves.

In football, a coach can explain to a player where to move, when to pass, and how to react in a specific situation. But there is another, more complex question: can the player make the decision himself when the situation changes during the game?

For Roberto De Zerbi, the coach’s role is not only about giving instructions, but also about helping players understand the game and make their own decisions within it. The Italian coach has expressed this idea clearly when discussing his desire for players to own their choices on the pitch, arguing that restricting their freedom to choose and think can lead to players who follow instructions more than they create their own decisions.

De Zerbi.. The Player Is Not Just an Executor of the Coach’s Instructions

In an interview with El País in 2021, De Zerbi spoke about his rejection of the idea of turning players into what he described as “soldiers.” He explained that the coach can coordinate the team, but choosing whether to pass, dribble, shoot, or move from one position to another should ultimately remain part of the player’s responsibility.

This idea does not mean that De Zerbi leaves players without a clear framework. On the contrary, in the same interview, he spoke about the importance of playing principles, such as attracting the opponent through short passing, drawing them out of their zone, and then looking for the free player. In other words, the coach establishes the principles and the context, while the player must read the situation and choose the appropriate action.

What Does It Mean for a Player to Find the Solution Himself?

The idea becomes even clearer in an interview De Zerbi gave to Ligue 1 during his time at Marseille. When asked how he helps players develop, he said that he tries to make them think and find solutions themselves, explaining that he does not simply give orders, but asks questions.

He gave a simple example: if a player has the option of passing the ball to one foot or the other, the coach can ask whether the choice makes a difference, and then encourage the player to explain why. In this way, the answer does not become simply a piece of information given to the player, but the result of a process of thinking and discussion between the coach and the player.

This is where the difference appears between telling a player what to do and helping the player understand why they should do it.

From De Zerbi to Training.. When Should the Coach Intervene?

This philosophy does not mean that the coach should stop giving instructions or leave everything to the players. De Zerbi himself has said that he has clear principles regarding positioning, movement, and the timing of passes, but he wants players to understand why they are performing an action rather than executing it mechanically.

This makes the coach’s role more complex: they must define what the player needs to learn, the context in which that learning will appear, and the type of intervention that can help the player reach the decision.

For this reason, the quality of training is not measured only by the number of instructions a coach gives during a session, but also by the coach’s ability to create situations that make players think, interact, and make decisions.

De Zerbi.. Clear Principles, but the Decision Belongs to the Player

This idea can also be seen in the way De Zerbi has described his approach to build-up play. In a previous interview, he explained that his team tries to attract the opponent through short passes, draw them out of their zone, and then look for the free player behind the pressure. He also explained that taking risks in build-up is not about taking risks for the sake of it, but about asking a simple question: is the potential advantage greater than the risk?

This highlights an important point in player development: having a clear principle does not mean there is only one answer to every situation.

The coach can define the idea they want the team to execute, but a match is full of variables: the opponent’s movement, the position of a teammate, the available space, the direction of the pressure, and the speed of the situation. Therefore, the player needs to apply the principle within a changing context rather than memorize a fixed movement and repeat it.

When Dialogue Becomes Part of the Learning Process

This relationship between coach and player is clearly reflected in the way De Zerbi has described his work. He does not see his role as simply providing solutions, but as helping players develop their ability to think and make decisions.

In his interview with Ligue 1, De Zerbi connected player personality with giving players space to think and choose, explaining that players need to understand the reason behind a decision in order to feel ownership of what they are doing.

Here, dialogue becomes more than a tool for correcting mistakes. It becomes a learning tool that helps players understand the situation rather than simply waiting for the coach’s answer.

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From Training to the Match.. Can the Player Apply What They Have Learned?

The real test of any training methodology does not happen only when a player performs an exercise correctly. It happens when the player faces a similar situation in a match and can use what they have learned to deal with it.

That is why the course focuses on moving from what should be trained to how it should be trained, before exploring the coach’s role in the learning process and interaction with the player, followed by the use of video as part of the motor learning process. It also covers the design of training situations with coordinative, cognitive, and contextual preferences.

This point is important because training is not only about repeating a specific behavior, but about preparing players to deal with situations whose details may change from one match to another.

The Goal Is Not for the Player to Know the Answer.. but to Know How to Find It

De Zerbi’s approach provides a clear example of this idea. He is not talking about eliminating the role of the coach, but about changing the nature of that role: from someone who constantly provides answers to a coach who establishes principles, designs the context, asks questions, and helps the player understand the decision.

In 2026, when speaking after taking charge of Tottenham, De Zerbi described his role as helping players show their qualities, while also emphasizing the importance of organization and understanding what needs to be done on the pitch, while taking the characteristics of his players into account.

This is where the value of the idea lies: the coach does not give up their role by giving players room to think. Their role may actually become even more important, because they are responsible for building the environment that makes thinking and decision-making possible.

From De Zerbi to the Modern Coach

What can be taken from De Zerbi’s approach is not that the coach should stop giving instructions, nor that every player should be left to discover everything on their own. The idea is more precise: the more capable a player becomes of understanding principles, reading the situation, and making decisions, the more training can develop a player who does not depend on the coach being beside them at every moment.

That is why the relationship between training design, player interaction, critical thinking, observation, and Video Feedback has become an important part of developing the modern coach. A good coach is not always looking for a player who memorizes the answer, but for a player who understands the game well enough to find the answer when the questions change.