“It's too much”: Faced with overloaded schedules, Manchester City's Rodri assures that footballers are “close” to a strike

Champion d’Europe avec l’Espagne en juillet, le milieu de Manchester City a disputé une soixantaine de matches la saison dernière. MAXPPP – Martin Rickett

As the new Champions League, with more matches than before, begins this Tuesday, September 17, the Manchester City midfielder said that the players were close to being fed up with the pace and a possible protest movement.

“Yes, I think we are close to it”, replied Manchester City's Spanish midfielder, Rodri, when asked on Tuesday about the possibility of a strike by footballers in the face of the increase in the number of matches.

The defensive midfielder was speaking to the press on the eve of the “Citizens” first match in the Champions League, whose new format provides for eight matches and no longer six before the knockout phase. The schedule, which will be made even more difficult by the Club World Cup next summer, is becoming unsustainable, according to the Spaniard, who has played nearly sixty matches in 2023-2024, for club and country.

“If it continues like this, at some point, we will have no other choice”

“If you ask any player, they will tell you, it is a general opinion among players, this “It's not just Rodri's opinion”, he told the media before facing Inter Milan on Wednesday in Manchester. “If it continues like this, at some point we will have no other choice”, he said about a possible players' strike. “But I don't know what's going to happen. In any case, it is something that worries us because we are the ones who suffer", he said.

Earlier this month, the world football union FIFPro called for protective measures for players, who are subjected to an excessive workload in an ever-lengthening calendar.

The quality of the spectacle at stake

Rodri cannot "give an exact figure" of matches to be played in a season, but “60 or 70, no. Between 40 and 50 matches, a player can play at the highest level. Then, you decrease because it is not possible to maintain your physical level”. The current schedule, “in my humble opinion, it is too much”, he insisted.

“We have to take care of ourselves, we are the main characters of this sport, or this business, whatever you call it”. European champion this summer with Spain, Rodri assures that the quality of the show is at stake. “If people want to see better football, we need to be able to rest”, he declared. In other words, “the more matches there are, the lower the level and quality”.