Espacio de Fase, Dynamic Spaces, and the Coaching of Player Behaviours through Rondos, Positional Games, and Preferential Situational Simulations

Paddy King
Sep 2
5 min read

Introduction – A Language for Football

Football is the most universal of games, yet its complexity often hides in plain sight.

We talk of pressing, switching play, or finding the striker, but these words often oversimplify. They mask the deep structures that govern how players interact, perceive, and transform fleeting moments into advantage.

The framework of Espacio de Fase (EdF) — refined by Paco Seirul·lo and embedded in the positional play philosophy of Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola — offers a sharper lens.

It sees the game not as fixed positions but as dynamic spaces of cooperation:

Game Center Space (GCS) – where the duel over the ball is contested.
Direct Cooperation Space (DCS) – where nearby teammates provide support and continuity.
Indirect Cooperation Space (ICS) – where the wider structure stretches, balances, and creates conditions for progression.

Yet spaces alone are not enough. To truly coach within EdF, we must speak a more refined football language — a set of Universal Concepts (behaviours all players must master) and Collective Concepts (team principles that knit actions together).

And crucially, this language must be trained. This is where rondos, positional games, and preferential situational simulations (PSS) become indispensable. They are not just drills; they are the laboratories where the grammar of football becomes embodied knowledge.

Part I – The Architecture of Espacio de Fase

Game Center Space (GCS)

The duel. Here, the ball is under pressure, and decisions must be instant. Every second counts.

Direct Cooperation Space (DCS)

The immediate lifeline: angles, continuity, emergency outlets. This is where triangles form and where scanning and oriented control decide the tempo.

Indirect Cooperation Space (ICS)

The scaffolding of the game. Wingers stretching, midfielders between lines, defenders balancing for rest defense. The ICS ensures structure and prepares the conditions for superiority.

These spaces interlock.

Movement in one reshapes the others. Coaching with EdF means constantly teaching players how their behaviour shifts depending on whether they are in the GCS, DCS, or ICS.

Part II – Universal and Collective Concepts

Universal Concepts: scanning, receiving with purpose, dismarking, attracting pressure, finishing, moving after passing, finding the free man.
Collective Concepts: diamonds, counterpressing, defensive relays, travelling together, dynamic plus one scenarios.

These concepts are not abstractions; they are behaviours that players must learn to execute inside the three spaces.

Part III – The Bridge: Training Methodology

The question for coaches is simple: how do players learn to live inside these spaces and apply these concepts under real football conditions? The answer lies in three methodological pillars:

1. Rondos – The Grammar of the Game

Rondos are not warm-ups. They are football in microcosm.

In a 4v2 rondo, the Game Center Space is the duel between the pressing pair and the player in possession.
The Direct Cooperation Space is the immediate support triangle — two or three teammates offering angles.
The Indirect Cooperation Space is represented by the players on the outside, shaping depth, stretching distances, and ensuring continuity.

Behaviours trained in rondos:

Scanning before receiving.
Oriented control to open passing lanes.
Continuity, penetrating, and emergency passes as communication tools.
Dismarking through double movements to create options.

In essence, the rondo teaches the grammar of interaction. It forces players to read pressure, connect with teammates, and manage time-space constraints. Coaches must treat it as a core teaching tool, not a token warm-up.

2. Positional Games – The Syntax of Cooperation

If rondos teach grammar, positional games teach syntax.

A positional game expands the rondo into a larger grid where roles are spatially fixed — wingers wide, pivots between lines, defenders circulating. This reflects the Indirect Cooperation Space in greater depth.

For example:

A 6v4 positional game in two zones teaches breaking lines, finding the free man, and playing inside to go outside.
A 7v7+3 neutral positional game replicates circulation across the three spaces, where the diamond principle emerges naturally.

Behaviours trained in positional games:

Circulating and probing to attract pressure.
Switching play after fixing defenders.
Relative distances of support for width and depth.
Rest defense awareness — ensuring the ICS is connected.

The positional game links Universal and Collective concepts. It shows players how their individual behaviours (scanning, receiving, dismarking) feed into collective structures (diamonds, relays, counterpressing).

3. Preferential Situational Simulations (PSS) – The Music of the Match

Paco Seirul·lo described football training as the development of preferential situations: game-like simulations that exaggerate or isolate a certain problem so players can rehearse solutions.

PSS are not scripted drills. They are game scenarios with biases.

They deliberately tilt the field to focus on a principle:

3v2 overloads to train dynamic plus one scenarios.
5v4 transition games to practice counterpressing and rest defense.
Wing overloads to explore underlaps, overlaps, and finding the third man.

Behaviours trained in PSS:

Travelling together — maintaining team compactness.
Exploiting plus-one scenarios with speed.
Emergency and continuity support under pressure.
Optimal transitional passing after regains.

Where rondos provide grammar and positional games provide syntax, PSS provides music — the rhythm and flow of football under real competitive tension. They are the bridge to the match itself.

Part IV – Application Across Phases of Play

When we combine spaces, concepts, and training pillars, we create a clear developmental path:

Initiation (Build-Up): rondos for scanning and continuity → positional games for diamonds and circulation → PSS for pressing traps and escapes.
Progression: rondos for penetrating passes → positional games for breaking lines → PSS for exploiting free men and rupture runs.
Entry (Final Third): rondos for quick circulation → positional games for inside-outside play → PSS for overlaps and plus-one scenarios.
Finishing: rondos for tempo and security → positional games for structured entry → PSS for creating high-value chances while maintaining rest defense.

Each phase layers behaviours. The rondo roots them, the positional game contextualizes them, and the PSS stress-tests them.

Part V – From Training to Creativity

The ultimate goal of this methodology is not repetition but adaptable intelligence. Players must move beyond fixed drills into living solutions.

A midfielder scans because he has repeated it thousands of times in rondos.
A winger makes a rupture run because positional games taught him the value of stretching the ICS.
A team counterpresses instinctively because PSS ingrained the collective trigger.

Training is not about memorizing patterns; it is about developing a language of behaviours that can be improvised under pressure. Just as a jazz musician moves from scales to improvisation, players move from rondo grammar to PSS creativity.

Conclusion – The Coach’s Task

Espacio de Fase and Dynamic Spaces give us the framework. Universal and Collective concepts give us the vocabulary. But without methodology, they remain theoretical.

Rondos, positional games, and preferential situational simulations are the bridge. They are not separate exercises; they are a continuum:

Rondo – micro-grammar of interaction.
Positional Game – syntax of collective organisation.
PSS – music of the real match.

Through these practices, coaches can systematically train the behaviours that define modern football: scanning, breaking lines, dismarking, fixing defenders, counterpressing, travelling together, exploiting plus-one scenarios.

This is why Barcelona, Ajax, Manchester City, and countless modern academies revolve around these training methods. They are not trends — they are the embodiment of a philosophy.

The task of the modern coach is clear:

Understand the Espacio de Fase.
Teach the Universal and Collective concepts.
Train them relentlessly through rondos, positional games, and preferential simulations.

When this cycle is complete, players no longer “learn plays.” They learn to read, decide, and act within the dynamic spaces of football. They speak the game’s deepest language. And that, ultimately, is how a philosophy becomes a culture.

For more information on the Concepts Course by King Knight, please visit here.

For more information on the Espacio de Fase Book by King Knight, please visit here.