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PURPOSE OF SESSION:

In a newspaper article, Liverpool coach Pepijn Lijnders references how Liverpool use a 6v2 rondo in a defensive sense, quoting James Milner as a player who is very successful in this exercise. It is a good example of how adding a constraint allows you to get defensive as well as possession-based outcomes from rondos.

INITIAL SET-UP:

• Grid size as appropriate to players’ age and ability. • Six possession players on the outside of the grid. • Possession players can, and are encouraged to, move along their line, and can also move onto another line. • Two defenders who attempt to regain the ball.

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Possession players keep the ball away from defender for as long as possible, or for a target number of passes. • The defending pair have two priorities. One, can they win the ball before the opponent makes six passes. If this happens, both are rewarded by leaving the grid and are replaced with two different defenders. • Secondly, if a player wins the ball back after more than six passes, that player only may leave the grid. • The learning outcome is that it is better for the team to win the ball back as soon as possible – a noteworthy trait in teams coaches by Jürgen Klopp.

COACHING POINTS:

1.   Curve your run to the ball and force the attack in one direction.

2.   The second defender can anticipate the next pass and shade in that direction.

3.   When the player you are pressuring passes off, drop straight back towards the center of the field.