As Jimmy Greaves once said, football’s “ a funny old game.” Not only can it provide drama and tension in those vital ninety minutes, be it a goal, a save, a sending-off or two back-to-back astonishing comebacks (ring any bells, Middlesbrough fans?) - it can also see a player’s profile and popularity change dramatically from even a single episode.

Most football supporters can be very demanding, expecting their team to win all of their matches (unless you’re a Sunderland fan) and scrutinizing each player’s performance in detail to rival the knowledge of a pundit. Even one episode can lead to a player going from “zero to hero” or vice-versa. Take a certain David Beckham for example: in the famous loss to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup second round, he was public enemy number one after being sent off. Three and a half years later, he was voted Sports Personality of the Year by BBC viewers, and later became the country’s golden boy.

Perhaps another good example could be the most unlikely hero at all, Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann. Up until a few months ago, Lehmann had been heavily criticised by both commentators and supporters for his erratic performances, which cost Arsenal dearly last season. Now, nearly a year after his heroics in last season’s FA Cup final, he has actually achieved the unprecedented task of being the first German goalkeeper to be popular with English fans: first by keeping ten clean sheets so far in the Champions League and later by saving Riquelme’s last-gasp penalty in the semi-final against Villarreal, putting them in the final for the first time in the Gunners’ history.

The perfect antithesis to Lehmann’s fate can be found in AC Milan’s Brazilian keeper Nelson Dida. Considered the exception to the rule that Brazil don’t have good goalkeepers, his saves led to AC Milan’s Champions League triumph in 2003, but he has since seen his form and confidence drop dramatically. Endless mistakes against even Serie A’s lowest-ranked teams have resulted in a very public rebuke from Milan coach Ancelotti, who has warned that “any more mistakes” might be “the end of Dida at AC Milan unless he rediscovers his form for our sake and his own.”

Another keeper to have seen his profile plummet is Man Utd keeper Tim Howard: dubbed as “the new Schmeichel” when he arrived in 2003, he has not played a single Premiership match this season and could be loaned out to Everton next year for the sake for his career.

Outfield, Real Madrid’s Ronaldo is equally subject to drastic oscillations in popularity. Although he has been the club’s leading scorer every season since joining, he has never managed to win a place in the hearts of the notoriously fickle Madrid fans who repeatedly boo him at every game, bringing his future at the club into question.

Or how about Ibrahimovic at Juventus, or Van Nistelrooy at Manchester United? Both are world-class strikers who have bagged loads of goals for their respective clubs, and yet a sudden fall in form has not only led people to question their commitment and ability, but also to the potential risk of being sold.

Are we justified in judging so rashly? Is it possible to find a degree of humanity in football or has the game truly deteriorated into a ruthless money-making machine in which the slightest, if even temporary loss of form can signify the end of a player’s career at a club? Unfortunately it would seem so.

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