Does your newfound love for a club deserve to get a lot of stick?

Who made you fall in love with football? Ronaldinho is a name that'll most commonly pop up. His Blaugrana torch was passed on to Lionel Messi, the rightful king. Being the rightful heir to Maradona, he drew a lot of staunch Argentine fans towards Barcelona as well.

I, for one, became a Milanista because of the club who played against Serie A's flow. I fell in love with Kaka and Pirlo (whose shirt I donned proudly over the years). I became a Madridista because of the Galacticos. My brother became a Kopite primarily because of their jersey and his eternal skipper, Steven Gerrard. Eventually, the Istanbul miracle solidified that love affair.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, most of us chose a club because of the badge, or any iconic jersey or more importantly, a player. Some picked up a club because of their fascination towards a certain country and their players.

We weren't quite brought up to speed on the club's ideology since we remotely didn't have any affiliation with the city the club was based in. Nor were we mature enough to have a football philosophy of our own.

Yes, some of us chose a certain club because of their iconic goals. Let's face it, we understood football just to be a game of goals in that age; we had very little idea regarding the tactical intricacies, disruption of passing lanes, the occasional but necessary tactical fouls and other facets of the game.

So, why do we take a dig on the first chance we get, on people who shift their allegiance towards a certain club? This is the player that made them watch football, put a smile on their face even in the toughest of times, whose goals and skills compilations they were so enamoured with that they tried to replicate them on the field next day. Why the hate?

It would be mighty naive of me if I didn't take the fact into account that AC Milan doesn't hold the same philosophy anymore, nor does Real Madrid. Club philosophies are bound to change in accordance with the transition of the game and market. Clubs embrace new eras after the departure of important figures and other consequential changes.

Not that I am a big proponent of local allegiance but that at least gives the locals an incentive to cling on to their clubs, a fandom that was passed on to them generationally. Club's ideology was instilled into them which, in many ways, outweighs and to some extent, disallows enchantment for a non-club-individual.

For us outsiders though, is it wrong for our love towards a player, who was the sole reason for us to fall for this game, outweigh our love towards a club that we started supporting for reasons not so connected with the game?

Alavi Ashraf Eram likes to blabber about his favourite movies, songs and sports. Drop him your movie critiques at facebook.com/alaviashraf.eram