.png)
Roberto De Zerbi is known for an idea that is simple to state and hard to execute: invite the opponent to press so you can find the space they leave behind. For that to work, players need to keep the ball in tight spaces, pick the right moment to play, and finish once the space is found.
Here is the session, followed by its analysis and a few ways to adapt it to your group.
The Complete Roberto De Zerbi Session (70 min)
Circulation, Positional Play and the Overlap, the De Zerbi Way
Three drills and a warm-up drawn from separate Roberto De Zerbi sessions, brought together here to work in sequence on circulation in a tight space, playing out under a numerical overload, then wide combination play into a cross.
#1 Warm-up: Possession with numerical advantage and defensive pressing
Remind your players that pressing is a collective action and not individual. It must be done in a coordinated manner to be effective.
Themes linked to this drill
#2 Rotation Through the Central Pivot With a Cut Between Two Cones Before the Shot
- The player at the starting post plays an inside pass to the central pivot.
- The central pivot lays it off first-time back to the passer, who has stepped forward in the meantime.
- The passer immediately plays a firm vertical pass to the forward player.
- The forward player plays it to the player set back.
- The player set back plays a diagonal pass to the central pivot.
- The central pivot quickly cuts through the two cones using a body feint, then shoots into the mini-goal.
- After the shot, players rotate one position: the initial passer takes the central pivot's spot, the central pivot (who just shot) moves to the set-back position, the set-back player moves up to the forward position, and that player joins the queue at the starting post.
Variant
Themes linked to this drill
#3 7v4 Overload With joker-Led Build-Up
- The team in possession and the three jokers combine to create a constant 7v4 overload against the defenders.
- The ball must progress from the deep joker to the high joker, either through an inside pass via the pivot joker, or via the wide outlets on the sides.
- The four defenders press the ball carrier to close passing angles and cut the connection between the two zones.
- Before playing inside, the ball carrier puts a foot on the ball to draw in the nearest defender and open the space behind them.
- As soon as the space opens up, the team plays in one or two touches to quickly switch play into the other zone.
- If the defenders win the ball, they immediately look to keep possession or find an outlet to swap roles with the team that just lost the ball, according to the series set by the coach.
Variant
Themes linked to this drill
#4 Wide Combination Into an Overlap and a Cross
- The distributor plays a firm diagonal pass to the winger.
- The winger lays it off first-time inside to the link player.
- As soon as the lay-off is played, the winger overlaps around their outer mannequin, sprinting toward the byline.
- The link player slides a through ball into the winger's run, weighted so as not to catch them offside.
- As soon as the through ball is played, the link player follows up with a support run toward the edge of the box, the attacker dives to the near post, and the opposite attacker closes the far post.
- The winger delivers a cross, low or driven, into the box.
- One of the three players arriving finishes first-time in front of the goalkeeper.
- After the action, positions rotate: the distributor takes the link player's spot, the link player moves up to the winger's spot, and the winger collects their ball to return to the starting cone.
Variant
Themes linked to this drill
Structure Analysis
The warm-up (15 minutes) sets up numerical overload in its simplest form: keeping the ball with an advantage against a defensive press. The whole group plays, with real opposition.
The rotation through the central pivot (15 minutes) drops back to the individual level. In a 10 m x 15 m space, four positions rotate around a pivot: pass, first-time lay-off, vertical pass, diagonal pass, then a cut between two cones and a shot. There's no opposition: the goal is to make the action clean and quick.
The 7v4 with floater-led build-up (20 minutes) climbs back to the collective. Three floaters in precise roles (deep, pivot, high) let the ball circulate from one end of the rectangle to the other. The carrier deliberately holds the ball to draw in a defender before playing inside.
The wide combination (20 minutes) is played against mannequins. The winger lays it off inside, overlaps, receives a through ball and crosses, while three players occupy the finishing zones.
What links these drills is the link player. The pivot in the rotation, the pivot floater in the 7v4 and the inside midfielder in the combination all play the same role: receive through the middle and move the ball forward. The principle is also the same in the last two drills: draw in before playing, to free a teammate behind the opponent.
One point of caution: numerical overload is only explicit in the warm-up and the 7v4. In the technical rotation and the combination, there's no overload to exploit, so timing and quality of execution make the difference.
What This Session Works On
- Fast circulation through the middle, via a link player
- Body orientation and scanning before receiving
- Drawing an opponent in before playing, rather than rushing the pass
- The timing of runs during an overlap, neither too early (offside) nor too late
- Occupying all three finishing zones at once on a cross
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Speeding up the technical rotation too early. The cut only has value if it's clean: slow it down at first, then speed it up.
- Letting the 7v4 turn into a plain rondo. Without the distinct floater roles (deep, pivot, high), the drill loses its goal of circulating from one end of the pitch to the other.
- Triggering the overlap too early. In the combination, a winger who starts before the pass ends up offside.
- Forgetting to rotate positions. In both rotating drills, every player should cycle through all positions.
Adapting This Session to Your Group
For a younger group (U14-U16), keep the warm-up and the rotation, and drop the small-sided game to 7v3 to make playing out more accessible. With a smaller squad, the technical rotation runs from 4 players as a station while another group works on the small-sided game. If you need to shorten the session, keep the warm-up, the 7v4 and the combination, and save the technical rotation for another session.
