How to Train Positional Play – 15 Exercises from Theory to practice

Positional Play Methodology ( “Juego de Posicion” in Spanish) provides a set of guidelines and structures for the attacking phase of the game. The main idea behind the positional play is to create superiorities (different kinds of superiorities) in specific areas of the pitch. In this book, you will find 15 exercises on how to train Positional Play football.

“The objective is to move the opponent, not the ball” – Guardiola

There are lots of managers who are huge believers in the “Juego De Posicion”. When people hear this term, the first coach that comes to their mind is Pep Guardiola. However, the style of play has been used by coaches before Guardiola without specifically being named. Legendary coaches like Rinus Michels, Gusztáv Sebes, Johan Cruyff, Louis van Gaal, Juanma Lillo, just to name a few, have utilized and created concepts we now see in modern-day positional play. There are also coaches who even if they do not follow 100% of all the Positional Play principles, use some of the key aspects to train positional play.

The book aims to explain in simple words, the most important aspects of Positional Play. The objective is for the reader to understand the key principles and the general guidelines and concepts behind this methodology and to implement them using the 15 exercises presented in this book to train positional play.

The content is influenced by Guardiola’s philosophy and training methods but also by other supporters of Positional Play. Of course, the methodology goes beyond plain tactical guidelines and includes theory from the areas of neuroscience and complex systems, but here the main objective is to offer to all coaches and football lovers the opportunity to understand the basic rules of thumps.

Contents

• What is Positional Play?

• What is the Guardiola Grid?

• Third Man Concept

• Half Spaces

• 15 Positional Play exercises