"Why does Rodri not just ask his manager to rest him more?"

"Yes, I think we are close to that," said Manchester City's Rodri when asked on Tuesday if there was a possibility of players going on strike. "If it keeps this way we will have no other option. It is something that worries us."
The Spaniard's statements have caused a stir in the football world, with various opinions expressed. But players such as Liverpool's Alisson agree that overloaded match schedules are hurting the sport's stars. However, others think differently.
"If the poor Manchester City midfielder is being flogged for all he is worth, why does he not just ask his manager to rest him more? If Rodri is soliciting sympathy through his threat to go on strike, his last resort in railing against an excessive workload, he might find he hears only the sound of the world’s smallest violin," journalist Oliver Brown wrote in 'The Telegraph'.
"Yes, Rodri gives his pound of flesh for club and country, having racked up 6,107 minutes over a 12-month period until July, encompassing 36 games consecutively. But he is the exception rather than the norm," he continued.
The journalist ends his article with a reflection in which he blames Manchester City for the fatigue of their players, rather than the match schedules: "After all, it is City who are ultimately responsible for flogging him, tying him last season to such a remorseless schedule that he had an average of just 5.3 days’ rest between matches."
The expanded 36-team Champions League, in which all clubs play eight league fixtures, is a far cry from the original European Cup which only featured reigning national champions. City will also compete in an expanded Club World Cup at the end of the season.