José Mourinho's Counter-pressing Upon Losing Possession in 4v4 (+4)

Exercise used by José Mourinho at Real Madrid, it will allow you to work on counter-pressing in an 8v4 situation with 4 support players. Be sure to close down spaces immediately after losing possession!

Mark out a 30x30m area and then place 2 large goals on each width. Then form a team of 4 players and a team of 8 players. The team of 4 positions itself in the area, and the team of 8 places 4 players in the area and 2 players on each length of the field.

The exercise starts with a 4vs4 within the area with 4 players as support. The objective for the team with a numerical advantage is to complete a series of 8 consecutive passes before being able to score. The objective of the defending team is to recover the ball and score without a pass limit.

Upon losing the ball, the players on the sides must quickly close the spaces and press the ball carrier. The idea is to perform a counter-pressing and recover the ball within 6 to 8 seconds after losing it.

The rules of the exercise are as follows:

The players with a numerical advantage are limited to 2 touches of the ball. The opposing players (the team of 4) have no touch limit.
The team of 8 scores a point for each series of 8 consecutive passes.
The team of 4 scores 1 point if they recover the ball and score on the large goal. If the opposing team recovers the ball within 6 seconds after losing it, they score 1 point.