The Indulgables: Players that don't deserve our affection, but get it in spades

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Football has ever been thus.
A wonderful game followed by adoring masses and with each tribe boasting a merry band of loyal devotees, who are merry as long as the team keep winning - or at least, trying hard.

But even when not winning, these 'fans' are loyal, oh so loyal, and the wondrous mystery of football is that sometimes it is those who least deserve it who are lionized.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, and fans, will overlook Luis Suarez’s misbehaviour as long as he is effective on the pitch, and in that vain we thought we'd look at some other stars who have been indulged because their talent outweighed their flaws:

Ban boys

That Luis, eh? What's he like!?

 Occasionally a player comes along who is incredibly important to his team, but also a weapon-grade nutter.
These headcases incur bans for biting, persistent fouling, fighting or mouthing off.

Yet, like Suarez, Eric Cantona, Pepe and Sergio Ramos as a youngster, they are forgiven for serving more bans than the rest of the squad combined, because they bring a lot to the team.

This is a tricky existence though. If and when you lose your pace or form, the club usually ends up selling you quicker than it takes a ref to brandish your sixth red card of the season.

 

The Party cats

Ronaldinho: Good on the pitch, very good off it

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The professional athlete is a monument to dietary discipline, respect for the rules and regular rest. Unless you’re so good you train in a nightclub.

Barcelona turned a blind eye to Romario’s disco prowess while he plundered goals during the final years of the Dream Team.

Likewise Real Madrid players, staff and fans ignored the Brazilian Ronaldo’s lifestyle of rich food, saucy ladies and crazy parties because he scored in big games. Eventually fun-killer Fabio Capello booted Big Ron out.

And Ronaldinho? Well he just kind of does what he wants, and always has done.

Non-track-backers

Ten years on, Zidane still just watches on as the tackles fly in

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 Everyone mucks in today. This is the era of defending from the front. But certain players have never tracked back.
The last known clip of Zinedine Zidane embracing defensive duties is a Juventus training match in February 1997.

Frank Rijkaard plonked Ronaldinho high on the left flank at Barca so he wouldn’t have to pretend to help his full-back.

If your feet and brains are dipped in magic dust like those guys, you can do what you like.
Prodigiously gifted Juan Mata is another conjurer who isn’t expected to chase the ball. Oh wait hang on, news just in from Chelsea...

Terrible trainers

Training nightmare, but a semi-final hero. We know which one the fans cared more about

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 Gary Lineker was not an enthusiastic trainer, but he had a rather handy knack for scoring in World Cup knockout games and domestic cup semi-finals and finals. And loads in the league. Did a relaxed attitude from Monday to Friday matter?

Roberto di Matteo claimed Mark Hughes was the worst at Chelsea training when the two played together. But in matches the Welshman was an acrobatic, concrete- bodied battering ram. Few players in the history of English football have been as committed as Sparky. Football was a weekend job to Hughes.
Here's a gratuitous video of Lineker s****** himself:

 

Physio’s friends

Yeah you've got a big trophy but your hamstrings are like breadsticks

Alex Livesey

 Injuries are part of football (unless you are playing FIFA 14 with injuries switched off).
Top clubs and national teams have tolerated a select few fragile players because of their class.
Mehmet Scholl was a delightful player in an otherwise drab era for Bayern Munich and Germany. He spent much of the 1990s and early 2000s on the sidelines with irritating physical problems. But the little maestro was worth the frustration.

Ledley King was one of England’s finest central defenders of recent years, which is why Spurs did everything they could to get him on the turf. Mr Arjen Robben is the current king of physio stalkers. The Dutchman’s hamstrings are like breadsticks. But when the bald speeder is healthy and happy, his skills win trophies. Big trophies with ears.