Pep Guardiola suggested already a year ago that a player strike could make the International Football Federation (Fifa) and the European Football Federation (Uefa) understand that the measure was now full – that the players could not cope with playing more matches.
The Spanish women's football team, they went on strike and it gave results, said Guardiola, to New York Times, about the national team strike after the kiss scandal in the World Championship.
The day before the season premiere in the Champions League (against Inter) says Manchester City midfielder Rodri that a player strike is near to show dissatisfaction with all the more matches.
Ask any player, everyone thinks the same thing. If it continues like this, we have no other choice, he says.
Quality on show
For Rodri and his companions in City, the new game format in the Champions League means two more matches. In addition, up to seven matches in the new club team World Championship to be played in the USA at the end of the season.
Rodri says that a player can be at their highest level in 40-50 matches per season, but not 60-70 matches as it can be if a team goes far in all cups. Last season, Julian Alvárez, then in City, was selected in match squads 83 times. Phil Foden played in 72 matches, according to AP.
It's not all about money or marketing, but also about the quality of the show. If I get to rest, I perform better. If people want to see better football, we need to rest, says Rodri.
Haaland an example
He takes his Norwegian teammate Erling Haaland as an example. Norway was not qualified for the European Championship, so Haaland got a proper summer break. And then started by scoring nine goals in City's four first matches.
It shows why we're driving this issue, says Rodri.
Corrected: In an earlier version, the wrong opponent for Manchester City was stated. The correct one is Inter.
