Positional play: keep possession by finding the free man, creating positional superiority and playing through the lines with third-man combinations. Players hold their zones so the width and depth of the grid is always occupied and there is always a passing angle available.
Mark a 26x26m square and split it into three vertical zones. Four against four inside, plus three neutrals who always play for the team in possession, one central and two on opposite touchlines. Players stay in their zone, so the grid is always occupied and there is always an angle. Never more than two players on the same vertical line and never more than three on the same horizontal line. Count consecutive passes, or score a point for every pass that breaks a line. On losing it, the six-second rule applies: press immediately, and if you have not won it back in six seconds, drop into shape. Rotate the neutrals every few minutes because it is the easiest job in the exercise.
The 4v4+3, often called the Guardiola grid, is the reference exercise for positional play. Three neutrals always play for whoever has the ball, so the team in possession is permanently seven against four. That is a deliberate choice, and it changes what the exercise is about.
In a normal rondo the challenge is keeping the ball. Here keeping it is close to guaranteed, so the challenge becomes what you do with a superiority you have already been given. Circulating comfortably around the outside is possible all day and teaches nothing. The exercise only works if players are asked to progress through the opposition rather than around them.
The zones are what stop it collapsing. Without them, players drift towards the ball, two of them end up occupying the same space, and an angle that existed a second ago disappears. Holding a zone feels passive to a young player, which is exactly why it needs coaching: the width and depth of the grid must stay occupied whether or not the ball is nearby.
The third man is the concept the drill exists to teach. The player who receives is frequently not the player the passer first looked at. Ball into the central neutral, one touch out to a free man, and the third player arrives into the space the first two created between them.
On losing possession, six seconds of immediate pressure before dropping back into shape turns the exercise into a counter-pressing rehearsal as well as a possession one.
Save it to your private drills, then change the animation, adjust positions, swap equipment, or drop it into a session block. Or start from a blank pitch and build your own.