Gustar and similar verbs ' whether you like it or not

Other verbs and expressions that are used the same way as gustar are: convenirle a alguien, entusiasmarle a alguien, faltarle a alguien, hacerle falta a alguien, importarle a alguien, interesarle a alguien, quedarle a alguien, sobrarle a alguien, tocarle a alguien

The reason why English speakers have a hard time using gustar seems to be the existence of the verb like in English, with its many meanings and uses. Let's pretend the equivalent of gustar would be to please, which, by the way, would come much closes to the definition of the meaning of gustar in a Spanish dictionary: 

Gustar = Agradar. Placer. Satisfacer. Producir gusto o satisfacción: ser encontrado bueno o agradable con los sentidos, con la sensibilidad o la razón (Gustar = To please, to satisfy. To cause pleasure or satisfaction: to be sensed good or pleasing through feeling or reason.

Therefore,

¿Te gusto? = Am I pleasing you? or
Me gusta jugar al fútbol. = Playing football pleases me. or
Le gustan estos colores. = These colors are pleasing him.

An even better example is the verb molestar, English to bother:

¿Te molesto? = Am I bothering you? or
Me molesta jugar al fútbol. = Playing football is bothering me. or
Le molestan estos colores. = These colors are bothering him.

Grammatically and semantically the subject of the verb is someone or something (you, playing football, colors) that causes pleasure, satisfaction, inconvenience, discomfort etc. in someone. In Spanish like in English the subject (you, playing football, colors) and verb (please(s) bother(s)) are in agreement. We can see the structure is basically the same in both languages and that the relationship subject-verb will remain the same.

Esta camisa (one thing) me molesta. = This shirt bothers me.
Estas camisas (several things) me molestan. = These shirts bother_ me.
Fumar (one thing) me molesta. = Smoking bothers me.

 Click here for a little practice:

The only thing that changed between English and Spanish is the placement of the indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, les). While in English this pronoun remains at the end of the sentence, in Spanish it is placed in front of the conjugated verb, which is the normal position of pronouns in Spanish

 So far, so good, but the reality is that we usually translate:

I like football. by Me gusta el fútbol. and
I like to play football. by Me gusta jugar al fútbol.
I like the Rolling Stones. by Me gustan Los Rolling Stones.

These examples are not only grammaticaly and structurally different, the English subject (I) becomes the Spanish indirect object (me), and the English direct object (football) becomes the Spanish subject (el fútbol), which, by the way has always an article, but semantically as well: In Spanish we are saying that someone or something has a certain effect in someone and in English we are talking more about what someone likes to do. (I like to [play] sports, I like [to eat] hamburgers, I like [to see] these colors, etc ...

Conclusion: Not only have you to use another structure when you translate the English I like, but also are you saying a little different things in Spanish. 

Prepositional Phrases and Syntax

One extra thing that Spanish does is to add prepositional phrases to clarify or emphasize the identity of the indirect object, especially when we are contrasting it with another indirect object. The English translation will remain the same.

Estas camisas me molestan a mí más que a mi hermana.
These shirts bother me more than my sister.

In the case of a third person, the prepositional phrase will clarify the IO identity.

Estas camisas les molestan a Elena y Carlos.
These shirts bother them. (Just with the IO pronoun. No clarification.)
These shirts bother Elena y Carlos. (With the IO clearly identified, where we drop the pronoun in English.)