Alison Becker and Rodri are the latest elite footballers to go public this week and discuss the ever-increasing demands placed on professional footballers. The new-look Champions League hasn't helped, with the inclusion of two extra group games. However, more games means more revenue - broadcasting, ticket sales, matchday operations, etc.
Before their game with Inter Milan tonight Man City's Rodri went on record and said "I think we are close to that (striking)...I think it's the general opinion of the players. And if it keeps this way, there will be a moment where we have no other option...It is not the same for all the players, not all play 60 games, but all of us think the same. It's about the time we have for a break, many things."
If strike action were to be taken, it would not be the first time. Long before the world had heard of Jean Marc Bosman, English international George Eastam was contracted to Newcastle United. Unhappy with his conditions, Eastam went on strike.
The source of this dispute was the player's arguning "whether the house the club had supplied him was habitable, the unsatisfactory secondary job that the club had arranged and their attempts to stop him playing for the England U23 team". A secondary job! His footballer salary was not enough to make ends meet one can assume.
It wasn't until recent years that elite footballers have earned enough money during their short careers to comfortably retire in their mid-30s. There are very few professions that can say this. Footballers that played from Victorian Britain until the early 2000s could only dream of the weekly wages on offer in places such as the English Premier League or Saudi Pro League today.
While successful players - thoses that play 50+ games per season and international games - do play regularly, I am sure footballers of the past would gladly swap their salaries in return for having to play more (and ditch their secondary job!).
My guess is most fans would do the same. I recall a banner at a football stadium, with a message to the players, once reading along the lines: "We all dreamed of playing. God chose you. Now play like we dreamed".