Counter-Press Rondo | Possession and Pressing at the Same Time

Overview

• Works for middle-school age all the way up to adults
• Teams that want to play out of the back and keep the ball
• Teams looking to sharpen their counter-press — winning the ball back and attacking fast

Objectives

• Sharpen how cleanly your players keep the ball in tight spaces
• Build the mindset and movement to win it back the instant you lose it
• Develop reading and decision-making in the end zone (your scoring chance)
• Get players juggling both at once: keeping possession alive and flipping straight into defending

Setup

In a set 20m x 40m area, seven attackers keep one ball alive while four defenders hunt to win it back. The whole point is doing two things at once — finding ways to hold the ball, and reacting fast the moment you lose it.

1）Mark out a 20m x 40m field, with an “end zone” of about 10m at each end

2）Split into an attacking team of seven and a defending team of four

3）The attackers keep the ball and stay away from the defenders’ pressure

4）The defenders go after the ball, and the second they win it, they attack the opposite end zone and look to finish

5）Get the ball into the end zone and that side has a scoring chance

6）Run it for a set time, then swap the teams