Long have we known that Pep Guardiola was an innovator among innovators. The man’s biography is called “Another Way of Winning” for crying out loud. His training sessions have sometimes looked liked something out of a FIFA mini-game, and we mean that in the best possible way. 

Today, the training session that we bring you is not exactly out of this world. Everyone who has ever played soccer has participated in this inside versus outside drill, but leave it to Guardiola to spice up this mundane drill in his own special way.

Bundesliga teams returned to training this week following their winter break, and however much he protests to the contrary, Pep Guardiola is still the undisputed Tsar of Tiki-Taka. Currently 11 points clear at the top of the table, Guardiola’s Bayern Munich have completed a staggering 12,566 passes so far this season. That’s 739 per game and a whopping 45% more than the second highest total (Wolfsburg).

Dubbed “‘Bucket Ball” (at least, by the Bayern YouTube account), this training drill is as wild and wacky a way to hone a player’s skills as The18 has ever seen. 

The level of technical quality needed to successfully complete a circuit of this drill is matched only by the childish inspiration that it took to create it.  Pep Guardiola is no stranger to finding new and creative ways to manage his team, but this might take the top spot in the ever growing list of “Reasons We Want To Work With Pep Guardiola."