An explanation of how to use this famous Guardiola exercise to work on the concepts of Positional Play.

1. Guardiola’s 4v4+3
Kieran Smith
@Kieransmith1

2. General set-up
Normal set up of this drill is 4v4 with 3
neutral players.
Team on the outside(red) keep the ball
working with the 3 neutral players and
when the outside team lose the ball the
immediately press and the other
team(blue) take up the positions on the
outside.
Lots of teams use this for possession only,
and that is the key component, but how
can we use it to work on JdP principles.
@Kieransmith1

3. Positioning
In the initial set up we have good
positional superiority, as well as numerical
superiority, and we should look to
maintain this shape, more or less,
throughout.
1. We have 3 passing options each time
2. We are positionally sound and the
distances we have help us maintain
possession and affect the opposition
3. We have players at different heights to
offer different passing lines
4. We also have a player behind the line
of opposition pressure, allowing us to
work on that concept
5. Allows us to work on the free man/3rd
man concept
@Kieransmith1

4. Up, back & through
This examples shows two different concepts of
JdP.
The first sequence of passes allow us to move the
opposition over to one side and they will try to
press the first pass.
As they move over we can create space for the
neutral player to receive behind the opposition
line of pressure. Here we can either work on him
receiving to turn, find in the 3rd man on the side
or the up back and through.
The 3rd pass goes into him and he bounces back,
this, again, disorganises the opposition. Then the
neutral player moves to one side and when he
does that, we want to see the neutral player use
opposite movement to be free to receive
unmarked.
@Kieransmith1

5. Sample of a simple session
We could start the session with rondos normally 4v2, 6v2 or 8v2. then we would do the
technical/physical circuit shown in picture one. Player 1 does the ladder/hurdles then passes the ball
to the player in the middle who bounces it back & player 1 plays long to 3. 3 receives, turns &
dribbles through the cones & finishes in the goal. Players move to next position and goes both ways.
We then move onto the 4v4+3 and look for the up back through shown in previous slide. Then onto
PoP & look for the same pattern with our key players( #4, #8/10 & #9)
@Kieransmith1