Watching my U15s control the game at the weekend was one of those occasions when I felt really proud of my coaching. Pass, pass, move, one-touch, backheel… It was all there and I loved every minute of the way they ran the game.
They won 3-1 but the score was irrelevant – it was the way they played that mattered. When working out what to do with the U10s during the week, I looked back at what had inspired my U15s to play so well.
The answer seemed obvious to me – it was the rondos I’d used with them.
So what is a rondo drill?…
Rondos are soccer drills where one group of players has the ball with overload advantage (3v1, 4v2, 5v2, 6v3) over another group of players. The basic objective of the group with overload advantage is to keep possession of the ball while the objective of the group with fewer players is to win the ball back.
Now that you know what rondos are, I’m going to give you a small taster of what they look like in practice.
“Passing Pairs” comes straight out of my Rondos – Special Training Guide
You can start seeing progress in your players immediately by using rondos drills like this in your training sessions.
Often in crowded areas of the pitch teams lose the ball by trying to hold on to it or with misplaced passes. Short passing in areas like the penalty area is key to keeping the ball and creating space for the goal scorers. MORE
This gets players to understand the importance of playing a long ball after keeping possession. It comes in handy in a match situation when your team is attacking and switching play from one side to the other or when hitting a long ball to the strikers to start an attack. MORE
Players who are creative are match winners... of that there is no doubt. I love to see a player dancing around with the ball slipping a pass through or taking on a challenge to whip the ball into dangerous areas of the opposition box. It's why they are so much in demand in the top teams around the world. MORE
Young players need to have success in training or they will not know what to do in matches – this session gives them time to think about exploiting the final third MORE
Possession is key with players tactically keeping position in the midfield focal point of the pitch. Movement is key to keeping the ball and fast breaks will result. MORE
