it’s an emotional familiarity they have conditioned on the premise that they are apart of the club, therefore they care for the club as much as the individual supporter and thus are infact in the same boat/fight.
Where in reality most players just view it as a job, which no shade to those who do, as long as they do their job to the best of their abilities.
it’s also the same emotion that the club taps into to evoke said loyalty of the fans, that they rely on to continue to fleece money from people. granted people also use that same mechanism to laud over others as a true and better supporter than others.
it’s like cults, or flat earthers people just want to feel connected to something, even if it’s a false ideology or belief system.
The discussion was about the players who have (allegedly) been on the gear. You’ve just assumed it’s the same players that you personally have an issue with.