Rondo
De Zerbi 6v2+1 Rondo: Split the Pair, Find the Floater
Outside players learn to move along their line to give the ball carrier an angle, and to recognise the moment the pressers are stretched so the ball can go through the middle. The pressers learn to work as a pair: the nearer one presses with a curved run, the other screens the central pass, and they swap jobs as the ball moves.
Duration
15 min
Total drill time
Players
9
Recommended
Pitch
20 × 18 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U9-U10
Any format
Setup & instructions
Mark a grid about 20 x 18 m with a disc on each corner. Put two players on each long side and one on each short side, a floater in the middle in a different colour, and two pressers inside carrying bibs. The six and the floater keep the ball: the outside players may move along their line but not into the grid, and play two touches maximum. A pass that goes between the two pressers into the floater, who then plays it out, is a point. When a presser wins the ball or it goes out off an outside player, the player who lost it takes the bib and goes in, and the presser who won it takes his place on the line. Play for 90 seconds, then change the floater.
Setup time: 3 min
Tactical breakdown
Roberto De Zerbi's teams are known for keeping the ball under pressure and playing through the middle when the press leaves a gap. This rondo trains both halves of that idea in a small space: six players on the outside, a floater in the middle, and two pressers who have to defend as a pair.
The six learn that standing still is the same as hiding. A presser in the right place can cover two players at once, so the outside players move along their line before the ball arrives, open their body and give the ball carrier an angle. The ball goes round quickly, and every pass asks the pressers to shift.
The floater is the reason the pressers cannot simply chase. If both go to the ball, the middle is open and the floater is found. So the pair split the work: the nearer one presses the ball with a curved run that shuts one side, and the other screens the pass into the floater. As the ball moves they swap jobs.
That swap is where the drill bites. When one presser jumps out to press and his partner is a fraction late to shift across, a gap opens between them. The floater checks away, then steps into that gap, and the pass splits the pair. He plays out first time to the side away from the press, and the pressers have to recover and start again. A split into the floater is a point.
When the pressers win it, the player who lost it takes the bib and goes in, so everyone defends and everyone wants to keep the ball.
How to run this drill
- Mark the grid. Put a disc on each corner of a grid about 20 x 18 m.
- Six out, a floater and two in. Two players on each long side and one on each short side, a floater in the middle in a different colour, and two pressers inside carrying bibs.
- Keep the ball. The six and the floater keep it, two touches maximum for the outside players, who may move along their line but not into the grid.
- Split the pair. A pass between the two pressers into the floater, who then plays it out, is a point.
- Lose it, go in. When a presser wins it, the player who lost it takes the bib and goes in, and the presser takes his place on the line.
- Change the floater. Play for 90 seconds, then change the floater so everyone plays in the middle.
Coaching focus
FROM SESSION PLANCoaching points
- Outside players: move along your line before the ball arrives, never stand in a presser's shadow
- Open your body so you can play the next pass or the floater first time
- Floater: check away from the pressers, then step into the gap as the pass is played
- Floater: play out first time to the side away from the press
- Look for the moment one presser jumps out and the other is late to shift: that is the gap
- Pressers: the nearer one presses with a curved run to shut one side, the other screens the floater
- Pressers: swap jobs as the ball moves and stay compact, a 5 m gap between you gets punished
Common mistakes
- Outside players standing still on their line, so the presser can cover two of them at once
- Forcing the pass into the floater when the pair is compact
- Floater hiding behind a presser instead of moving into the gap
- Both pressers chasing the ball and leaving the middle open
- The second presser shifting late, opening the gap the drill is built to punish
Progressions & regressions
VARIATIONSProgressions
- One touch for the floater
- Two splits in one possession for a point
- Shrink the grid to 16 x 14 m
- Pressers who win it must make two passes to each other before they swap out
- Add a third presser (6v3+1) and keep the floater
Regressions
- Make the grid bigger (24 x 20 m) so there is more time on the ball
- Free touches for the outside players
- One presser only (6v1+1) until the outside players find their angles
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