Rondo
6v2 Transfer Rondo: Counter-Press to Transfer
Play through or around an aggressive two-player press with quick combinations and supporting angles, and react the instant possession changes: the defenders look to transfer immediately, the team that lost it wins it back before the transition is completed.
Live animation
Duration
15 min
Total drill time
Players
12
Recommended
Pitch
28 × 18 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U11-U12
Any format
Setup & instructions
Mark two boxes side by side that share one line, about 14x18m each and 28x18m overall, with a disc on every line junction. Two teams of six in bibs. Team A starts with the ball in one box: four on the outside of the box, two on the shared line, so all six can receive. Team B sends two players into A's box to defend; B's other four wait spread around the far box. A keep the ball against the two defenders and score a point for eight consecutive passes, then keep playing with the count reset. When the defending pair win the ball they must transfer it immediately into the far box, on the ground or in the air. As soon as A lose it, they counter-press to win it back before the transfer is completed; if they do, they keep possession and the count restarts. Once the ball reaches the far box, B become the possession team, their two winners run up to join the four waiting there for a new 6v2, and A's two nearest players follow the ball across to become the defenders. Start on free touches and move to a two-touch maximum, then reward first-time passes wherever the player is already facing the next pass. Play 3 to 4 minute rounds, count points per team, and keep spare balls by each box so a ball out restarts at once with the team that should have it.
Setup time: 5 min
Tactical breakdown
Most rondos end when the defenders win the ball. This one starts there. The defending pair have to get the ball into the far box, and the six who just lost it have a few seconds to win it back before they do. That window is the exercise. Six players who react together will smother a pair who take a touch too many, and a pair who play the transfer first time will leave six players pressing an empty patch of grass.
The eight-pass count keeps the possession half honest. In a 6v2 the numbers are so favourable that players can hide behind safe square passes, so the count asks for eight in a row and the two defenders are coached to press the ball and screen the middle at the same time. The passes that break the press are the ones played first time and the one that splits the pair, and both need the outside players to be on angles, not standing on the line waiting to be found.
The transfer rule turns the defenders into a team in transition. They win it, they look up, and they play it long into the far box where four teammates are already waiting and spread. Their two winners then run up to join them, so the far box becomes a new 6v2 with the two nearest losers arriving to press. Nobody is told to jog back; the roles change while the ball is still travelling.
Coaches use it for two habits that carry straight into the game. The first is the immediate reaction to losing the ball, a real counter-press by the nearest players while the rest close the way out. The second is the reverse, winning the ball and playing forward at once rather than settling on it. Run in 3 to 4 minute rounds it is also an honest fitness load, because a team that keeps losing the ball keeps sprinting to get it back.
Keep the boxes big enough to play. At 14 by 18 metres a well-shaped six will keep it, and the pair should win the ball through a good press and a read diagonal, not because the box is too tight for anyone to pass.
How to run this drill
- Mark two boxes that share one line. About 14x18m each and 28x18m overall, with a disc on every junction. The shared line matters: the ball only has to cross it for the transfer to count, so keep it clearly visible.
- Split the group into two teams of six. Team A takes one box: four around the outside and two on the shared line. Team B sends two players in to defend and spreads its other four around the far box, ready to receive.
- Keep the ball and count to eight. Eight consecutive passes is a point, then the count restarts. The defenders press the ball with one and screen the middle with the other, so the split pass has to be earned.
- Transfer the moment the defenders win it. The winning pair play the ball straight into the far box, where their four teammates are waiting. No dribbling and no settling: the transfer has to beat the counter-press.
- Counter-press before the transfer is complete. The team that lost it goes straight at the ball with the two nearest players while the others cut off the way across. Win it back and the count restarts with them still in possession.
- Swap roles once the ball reaches the far box. The winners' pair run up to join their four for a new 6v2, and the losers' two nearest players follow the ball in to defend. Play continuously in 3 to 4 minute rounds.
Coaching focus
FROM SESSION PLANCoaching points
- Support on angles either side of the presser, not flat on the line, so there are always two passes on
- Scan before you receive: know your next pass before the ball arrives
- Play first time when you already face the next pass, take a touch when the presser is on you
- Split the two defenders when they drift level with each other, it is the pass that breaks the press
- Defenders: one presses the ball, the other screens the pass through the middle and reads the diagonal
- Win it and transfer at once, before the counter-press arrives
- Lose it and react immediately: the two nearest players go straight at the ball, the rest cut off the transfer
Common mistakes
- Outside players standing still on the line with no angle behind the presser
- Every player taking a touch, so the ball moves slower than the two defenders can press
- Defenders winning it and then dribbling, which gives the counter-press time to arrive
- The team that lost it stopping to protest instead of pressing the ball at once
- The winners' pair staying in the box they won it in instead of running up to make it 6v2
Progressions & regressions
VARIATIONSProgressions
- Two-touch maximum in the boxes, then one-touch once the shape holds
- A transfer counts only if it is played along the ground, so the counter-press can block it
- Ten consecutive passes for a point, or a split between the defenders counts double
- Shrink each box to 12x15m
Regressions
- Six consecutive passes for a point
- Grow each box to 18x20m and allow unlimited touches
- Defenders hand the ball to the coach after winning it, so the transfer and role swap can be walked through first
- One defender in the box while the other waits on the shared line, a 6v1
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