A training drill where a group keeps possession in a circle against one or two players in the middle — the foundation of positional-play coaching.
A rondo (Spanish for "round") has outfield players form a ring passing the ball while one or two "in the middle" try to win it — the classic "piggy in the middle" made into a coaching tool. Lose the ball and you go in the middle.
It drills first touch, quick one- and two-touch passing, body orientation, and finding the free player under pressure.
Positional-play coaches from Cruyff to Guardiola treat the rondo as the game in miniature: create numerical superiority, keep the ball, and break lines the moment a passing lane opens.
The habits it builds — scanning, angles of support, third-man runs — show up directly in a team’s build-up.
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