Stress debate in football
The super players’ fear of total collapse
September 25, 2024, 11:28 a.m
Manchester City’s Rodri has sparked the debate about overloading footballers – now he is probably seriously injured. So was the Spaniard right? Is the strain in professional football far too high? Things aren’t quite that simple.
It’s not like he didn’t know. Rodri spent 6,107 minutes on the world’s football pitches between July 2023 and July 2024, a lot, in his opinion. But not only that, no: it was even “too much,” added the Manchester City midfielder and didn’t even rule out a possible players’ strike.
A familiar murmur immediately spread through Europe’s top clubs and the Spaniard immediately received approval from professionals from Munich, Madrid, Leverkusen and Dortmund. And then what somehow had to happen happened: On Sunday, Rodri suffered a serious knee injury. According to City coach Pep Guardiola, he will be out “for a long time”. So Rodri and the big boys were right. Or?
The top players and their high workload – it’s not like this is a new topic. Prominent professionals and their coaches have been complaining for years about the busy football calendar. When FIFA proudly decided on a Club World Cup for the summer of 2025, some people’s faces became even longer. Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti had initially announced a boycott, but shortly afterwards meekly backtracked.
Ancelotti: Players would even give up money
But now the debate is gaining momentum again. Rodri nudged her as he sat 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 any player, they will say the same thing.” Immediately afterwards, Rodri received public approval from RB Leipzig professional Willi Orban and Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso.
The question now is whether they are right. From a medical perspective, is the burden actually too high and therefore unhealthy? And if so, people often argue at regulars’ tables: Footballers earn an incredible amount of money, so can’t they just handle a few more games? As far as money is concerned, Ancelotti once again had a suggestion. “The players have no problem giving up their salary if they play less,” said the Italian.
Whether they would actually do that remains unanswered. The fact, however, is that the high level of stress discussed by Rodri apparently only applies to a fraction of players. On this topic, FIFA likes to refer to a recently published study by the International Center for Sports Studies CIES, which the world association itself co-founded almost 30 years ago. Accordingly, most clubs do not play more per season than they did twelve years ago.
Only a fraction are more heavily loaded, but the system is based on them
The average number of clubs’ games per season between 2012 and 2024 was just over 40. Only 5 percent of the clubs were required to play more than 60 games. And: Only 0.31 percent of the players were used in 61 or more games. 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 games per season.
So isn’t everything so bad? Things aren’t quite that simple. Because the midfielder himself is one of the 0.31 percent, he played a total of 63 competitive games last season. So it’s obviously about the comparatively 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 be a Club World Cup next summer doesn’t make the situation of these professionals any better.
Together with the new Champions League mode, players like him would “probably end up playing 70 or 80 games,” Rodri had feared. However, that was before his injury, which will now significantly reduce the number of his appearances and which will likely put him out of the small circle of 0.31 percent of players. But the debate will certainly not end there. Quite the opposite.
