Thoughts of a strike: Too much, right? New debate about the strain on professional football

It’s not as if he didn’t suspect it. Rodri spent 6,107 minutes on the football pitches of the world between July 2023 and July 2024, which is quite a lot, he thought. But not only that, no: It was even “too much,” added the Manchester City midfielder, who did not even rule out a possible players’ strike.

A familiar murmur immediately went through Europe’s top clubs and the Spaniard was immediately approved by professionals from Munich, Madrid, Leverkusen and Dortmund. And then what had to happen happened: On Sunday, Rodri sustained a serious knee injury. According to City coach Pep Guardiola, he will be out for “a long time”. So Rodri and the big guys were right. Or were they?

Are the players right?

The top players and their high workload – it’s not as if this is a new topic. Prominent professionals and their coaches have been complaining about the full football calendar for years. When FIFA then proudly decided to hold a Club World Cup in the summer of 2025, some people’s faces got even longer. Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti had even initially announced a boycott, but sheepishly backtracked shortly afterwards.

But now the debate is gaining momentum again. Rodri started it while sitting on the podium at a press conference with a tired look and his upper body propped up. The European champion was asked whether the players could even go on strike given the number of games. “We’re close,” replied the 28-year-old. “You can ask all sorts of players, they’ll say the same thing.” Rodri received public approval immediately afterwards from RB Leipzig’s professional Willi Orban and Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso.

The question now is whether they are right. Is the strain really too high from a medical point of view and therefore unhealthy? And if so, the argument is often made at the pub: footballers earn an incredible amount of money, can’t they just cope with a few more games? As far as money goes, Ancelotti once again had a suggestion. “The players have no problem foregoing their salary if they play less,” said the Italian.

Whether they would actually do that remains unanswered. The fact is, however, that the high workload discussed by Rodri only applies to a fraction of players. FIFA likes to refer to a recently published study by the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES), which the world association itself co-founded almost 30 years ago. According to the study, most clubs do not play any more per season than they did 12 years ago.

The average number of matches played by clubs per season between 2012 and 2024 was just over 40. Only 5 percent of clubs were required to play in more than 60 matches. And only 0.31 percent of players were used in 61 or more matches. The study looked at the workload of more than 18,000 footballers in 40 leagues over a period of twelve years (2012 to 2024). On average, these players played 22.7 matches per season.

Did Rodri exaggerate?

So is everything not so bad after all? It’s not quite that simple. The midfielder himself is one of the 0.31 percent, having played a total of 63 competitive games last season. So it’s obviously about the relatively small number of absolute top players.

Those who regularly compete in several competitions with their clubs and play for their national teams in between, before and after. The fact that there will also be a Club World Cup next summer does not make the situation any better for these professionals.

Together with the new Champions League format, players like him would “probably play 70 or 80 games,” Rodri feared. But that was before his injury, which has now significantly reduced the number of times he plays, meaning he will fall out of the small group of 0.31 percent of players. But the debate will certainly not end there. Quite the opposite.