Pre-Season Football Rondos & Possession Games: Training Exercises To Play Like Celtic & Real Madrid – Tactical Theory

Rondo and possession exercises are now staples in most modern football coaches repertoires.

They can, and should, be used throughout the season. 

However, they can be particularly useful to coaches during pre-season as a way to break down the components of a particular game model while providing enough intensity to increase players cardiovascular capacity. 

For this tactical analysis, a ‘rondo’ is defined by the static nature of the players in the attacking, or in-possession, team and the defending players moving within a designated area.

Possession games, on the other hand, are differentiated here by their more fluid nature.

All players are freer to move, resulting in a more ‘game-like’ feel. 

From an attacking point of view, the aim of both is to improve a teams ability to keep the ball with, ideally, a target for them to play to. 

These games are also a great way to embed good pressing in terms of the individual technical aspects, as well as tactical and psychological factors, of reacting quickly to turnovers of possession. 

Improving pressing further raises the level of possession performance, as players are forced to play quicker and make better decisions with the ball. 

This tactical football analysis will analyse different components of rondo and possession exercises, break down their uses, and offer example exercises that the worlds top coaches are using.

This training analysis will show how these rondos translate to real game scenarios, along with in-match examples from Celtic and Real Madrid. 

Over The River Rondo

As shown above, the typical ‘over the river’ rondo contains three central boxes with three teams or pairs.

The aim is for the two teams in the end boxes to keep possession of the ball, usually for a predetermined number of passes, before transferring to the opposite box.