Positional Play: 4v4 plus 3 Neutrals

The 4v4+3 is the exercise most closely associated with Guardiola's positional play. Two teams of four compete inside an 18 by 25 yard grid, and three neutrals, one on each end line and one pivot in the middle, always play for whoever has the ball. The team in possession is therefore always seven against four, so the question is not how to create a superiority but how to use one.

The answer starts with shape. If the four players in possession all drift towards the ball, the defenders can press everything at once. If they hold the four corners, two diamonds with the end neutrals and the pivot, the grid is always wide and deep and there is always a free man somewhere. Finding him is the whole game.

The usual route is to draw the press first. Play the ball to one side, let the defending four commit to it, then switch. The switch works because it goes the way the defenders are not facing. From there the pivot in the pocket between their two lines is often open, and a first-time lay-off from him to a team mate running inside, the third man, puts the ball on the front foot facing forward. One more pass finds the free man, and the far end neutral.

That is why the scoring rewards progress, not just possession: five consecutive passes earns a point, but moving the ball from one end neutral to the other is a goal. Players learn to keep the ball patiently and to recognise the moment to go forward.

The transition is immediate. When the defending four win it they attack at once with the neutrals on their side, and the team that lost it defends straight away. That keeps the intensity high and makes careless possession expensive.