How Pep Guardiola Improves His Players

this video is brought to you by Squarespace whether you need a domain website or online store make it with Squarespace the intention is not to move the ball pep guardiola once said rather it's to move the opposition the catalan coach is a master of controlling games through complete domination of the ball but it's not something his team's pick up overnight it takes constant work on the training ground and high levels of concentration and tactical understanding from his players the most significant and important of Guardiola's training gram routines is the Rondo which he's used at Barcelona

by a Munich and now Manchester City with great success as with many of his ideas Guardiola was influenced in his use of the Rondo by the great Johan Cruyff our model was imposed by Cruyff said midfielder Xavi Hernandez in a 2011 interview with The Guardian it's an IX model it's all about Rondo's Rondo Rondo Rondo every single day it's the best exercise there is you learn responsibility and not to lose the ball if you go in the middle is humiliating the others applaud and laugh at you so what is the Rondo in effect it's a

game of piggy in the middle only played with the feet and with almost inconceivable levels of technical proficiency most commonly Guardiola uses an 8 vs. 2 Rondo eight players stand in a circle and attempt to pass to each other while the two in the middle aim to dispossessed them it's a simple drill but one that has proved highly effective the goal of the players on the outside of the circle is to reach a target usually 30 passes if one of the players in the middle retrieves the ball the drill restarts and the man responsible for

losing the ball takes his place for Guardiola and his players the Rondo has multiple benefits it improves technique in tight areas encourages intelligent movement and forces players to pass the ball in Niq triangles all of this is in evidence when his teams take to the pitch and Manchester City's improvement in these areas is clear to see from a defensive point of view the Rondo is perhaps even more valuable those in the middle learn to press with maximum efficiency closing down passing lanes and attempting to read the intentions of the player on the ball everything that

goes on in a match except shooting you can do in Iran de Croy once said as noted by Stan Baker in our competition is the world the competitive aspect fighting to make space what to do when in possession and what to do when you haven't got the ball how to play OneTouch football how to counteract the tight marking and how to win the ball back Guardiola clearly took this to heart every training session at Manchester City and the Barcelona and Bayan begins with a Ronda there are variations - sometimes it may be a 6 vs

2 or 5 vs 2 or a 3 vs 1 Ronda and sometimes Guardiola switches to a positional game similar to a traditional Rondo but with an added element the drill is 4v4 with three neutral players who take the side of whichever team has the ball in effect it becomes 7v4 although when one team wins the ball back the drill continues the team who have lost the ball can immediately counter press in an attempt to win it back more than anything it teaches the players to move intelligently off the ball the intensity of the drills is

crucial to Guardiola insists on maximum focus not allowing any player to slack off or joke around even the Rondo's it's with 100% effort or you don't do them at all he said as noted by 442 in 2016 if the players don't like them then they are welcome to go mountain running but in that case we'll never reach our potential gradually after the initial shock the players become accustomed to the intensity required in Guardiola's Rondo's it's not a casual exercise to warm the players up before the training session begins it is without doubt a fundamental part

of the development of Guardiola's teams a story told by Dominic Turin a former coach of Barcelona and Bayern shows the process that took place after Guardiola arrived in Munich in Marty parallels book Pep Guardiola the evolution Thoren explains the transformation on the training pitch what happened with the Rondo's is probably the best example of the process of adaption they all went through he said the players started out seeing them as a bit of a laugh a good way to start and end the warm-ups the ball could end 10 metres outside of the perimeter of the

Rondo circle without ever having touched the ground but from day one pep insisted that they pay attention to how they positioned themselves how they received the ball whether they controlled it with their left or right foot the Bayern players grasped his point very quickly I remember one day comparing the Rondo's of the early days with what they've become in the and it was amazing like looking at two entirely different exercises by the end of her time there that ball was flying the same level of discipline has been instilled at Manchester City and the players are

already performing an extraordinarily high level will only get better as time progresses the Rondo a humble training drill has been a crucial part of the team's improvement over the last two years it's an encapsulation of Pep Guardiola's coaching philosophy a conduit through which his basic principles a channel on to the pitch hi guys thanks for watching and a big thank you to our video sponsor Squarespace now if you're looking to build a new website Squarespace is the best choice for you it's incredibly easy to use you don't need to be a web aficionado to make

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