Rondos for Every Age Group

Walk into any elite training ground, from Guardiola's Barcelona to Klopp's Liverpool, and the session starts the same way, with a rondo. It is the most used drill in the modern game for a reason. The good news is it works just as well on a Tuesday night with your U9s as it does with internationals. This guide shows you how to set up rondos for every age group, what to coach in each, and how to keep the intensity high.

What is a rondo and why is it everywhere?

A rondo is a possession game where a majority keeps the ball inside a marked grid while a minority presses to win it back, for example 4v2, 5v2 or 6v3. The players on the ball circulate it, the outnumbered defenders chase. Elite coaches lean on it because it delivers maximum touches, constant scanning and quick decisions under pressure, and crucially it trains possession and pressing in the same drill. For Guardiola the rondo is the foundation of everything before positional play, and it sits at the heart of a tiki-taka philosophy.

Rondos for younger ages (roughly U7 to U9)

Use a bigger grid, around 10x10 to 12x12 metres, with 4v1 or 4v2 and unlimited or two touch. The focus here is a clean first touch out of the feet, getting the head up before receiving, and passing to the open player. Keep it as a game: count passes, set a target, and celebrate good touches. Rotate the defenders after a set time so nobody stands chasing for long and everyone stays switched on. A receive and turn drill pairs well with this stage.

Rondos for middle ages (roughly U10 to U12)

Shrink the grid to around 8x8 to 10x10 metres, move to 5v2 or 6v3, and tighten the touch limit to two, then one or two. Now you can introduce scanning and receiving on the half-turn, reward the split pass through the middle, and add a real tackle so the defenders genuinely compete. This is also the stage to start giving the pressers a job: who presses the ball and who covers the passing lane. Help the players who struggle with pressure by working on receiving under pressure.

Rondos for older ages (roughly U13 and up)

Use tighter grids, or move to positional rondos with end zones, target players and a direction to play towards. Demand one touch, or one touch only through the middle. The key here is to link every repetition to a real game moment, for example playing out from the back or breaking lines, so the rondo becomes a rehearsal for the game rather than an isolated drill. A scan, turn and play practice helps bridge the rondo to match situations.

How to coach the pressers, not just the keepers of the ball

This is the bit most coaches skip. Teach the defenders to press as a unit: the first defender shows the ball one way, the second covers the likely pass, and they pounce on a heavy touch. Reward winning the ball, for example a successful press earns a swap or a point, so pressing is treated as a skill in its own right. Done well, your rondo improves your team's pressing at the same time as their passing, which is why it doubles as a brilliant introduction to pressing triggers.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Grid too small and passing becomes panicked, so go bigger early and shrink it as players improve. Grid too big and there is no pressure, so the decisions become too easy; tighten it up. No consequences and intensity drops, so add a forfeit or a swap so every repetition matters. And if players switch off in the middle, rotate the defenders on a timer or after a set number of wins so no one is left chasing forever. Small details, but they are the difference between a sharp rondo and a kickabout.

How to make it competitive and fun

Count consecutive passes and set a target, reward split passes through the middle, use a forfeit for whoever gives it away, and run mini rondo leagues across a session. The best teams in the world all share the ability to make a simple rondo fiercely competitive, and that same energy works wonders with grassroots players. For more ways to keep practices game-realistic, see our guide to the best small-sided games.

A real example: Guardiola and Lijnders

At Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola made rondos the very first thing he taught, insisting players paid attention to how they positioned themselves and whether they received with the left or right foot. Players who first treated it as a warm-up ended up, by the end of his time there, stringing the ball together at lightning speed. At Liverpool, Pep Lijnders uses rondos to open sessions and specific three-v-two rondos to sharpen decision-making, once joking that Thiago must have been born in a rondo. You can explore the ideas behind it in our Coaching Philosophy of Pep Guardiola course.

Take it further

Browse the full Drill Library for rondo and possession practices ready to drop into your next session.

Master one drill at every age and you build the same habits the best teams in the world rely on. Just scale the grid, the touches and the rules to fit the players in front of you.

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