Manchester City star Rodri Hernandez threatens player strike – 'We've reached this point'
Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri Hernandez echoed the thoughts of Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, calling for action to tackle the growing number of games being demanded of the first teams. While Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola have mentioned the idea of a strike before, Rodri is one of the first protagonists to do so.
Ancelotti said specifically on Monday before Real Madrid's Champions League clash with Stuttgart he asked UEFA and FIFA to reduce the number of matches, citing them as being responsible for the number of injuries.
City star Rodri joined him in saying so ahead of his Champions League debut against Inter.
“From my experience I can say that playing 60 or 70 games is not optimal. A player may be able to be at the highest level if he plays between 40 and 50 games, then his performance will drop. This year we can reach 80, and in my humble opinion this is too much. Someone must take care of us because we are the protagonists of this sport, business or whatever you want to call it. It can't all be money and marketing, the important thing is quality of the show. In my opinion, if I'm not tired, I can do better. If people want to see football better, then we need to rest.”
U #UCL starts, but it could be less attractive than last year – at least this is the view of Carlo Ancelotti. #RealMadrid pic.twitter.com/T1iqwHZpOe
— Football España (@footballespana_) September 17, 2024
FIFPRO, the players' union, took legal action against the introduction of the FIFA Club World Cup in June, which was expanded to 32 teams. Rodri said they were on the verge of industrial action though.
“I think we are about to get there. It is a widespread opinion among the players, and if everything continues like this we will have no other option. I think this is something that really worries us, the ones who suffer are us.”
While clearly the physical toll can be easily measured, the mental toll is much harder to quantify, and Rodri highlighted its importance to AS Diary.
“These situations are solved with mental health, trying to be strong, having the machine oiled, winning and doing well. We had a good start to the season in this sense because the sooner you start a good streak, the easier it is to keep it. key to being as fit as possible and as mentally strong as possible.”
