Which team has let down their fans the most this season? 2024-25 Season

Which side has been the biggest disappointment? 2024-25 Season

Which team has let down their fans the most this season? With a month to go until the end of another Premier League season, there are fans everywhere buzzing about what their teams could be about to achieve. 

Chelsea fans will be ecstatic, with their team on course to secure another title this year, while any team from 2nd-6th could make up the rest of the top 4.

At the other end of the table, Bournemouth, Burnley and Watford are all on course to maintain Premier League status for another year, which is a big deal for their fans.

There are some teams this season who I think have been particularly disappointing for the standards they will have set at the beginning of the season.

Europe’s Five Most Soul-Crushing Football Disappointments of 2024-25

(Silly Season Feature – June 2, 2025)

European football thrives on passion, drama, and the razor-thin line between ecstasy and despair. For every underdog story that lifts the spirit, there exists a crushing narrative of promise unfulfilled, leaving fans grappling with anger, apathy, and a profound sense of betrayal.

The 2024-25 season delivered unforgettable highs for some, but for these five clubs, it became a masterclass in letting down their supporters on an epic scale. We focus on the Premier League, La Liga, and the Champions League’s biggest letdowns.

Which begs the question, with season is over, who has been the most disappointing side this season? Here are our candidates.

1. Manchester United (Premier League & Europa League)

The Promise: A fresh start under new football operations (INEOS), hopes of returning to the top four, and a squad boasting expensive talent.

The Reality: A descent into pure, unadulterated chaos. Finishing 15th – their worst league position in 51 years – Manchester United didn’t just underperform; they became a laughing stock.

Fan fury reached unprecedented levels, with 96% of supporters declaring themselves dissatisfied or very dissatisfied in fan surveys – the highest recorded misery index.

Why the Letdown? The season was a perfect storm of failure. Erik ten Hag’s expensive summer signings flopped before his inevitable November sacking.

His replacement, Ruben Amorim, arrived hailed as a saviour but stubbornly imposed a 3-4-3 system completely unsuited to his squad, managing a pitiful average of 1 point per game.

Star players like Marcus Rashford vanished. A meek Europa League final loss to Tottenham offered no redemption, merely twisting the knife.

The club’s sheer scale makes this failure resonate globally – a giant reduced to rubble, leaving fans like “David L” feeling the request for season feedback was akin to a “jab to already fractured ribs”.

Amorim’s end-of-season promise that “the good times are coming back” rang hollow over the boos at Old Trafford.

2. Manchester City (Premier League & Champions League)

The Promise: An unprecedented fifth consecutive Premier League title and another serious tilt at the elusive Champions League. Preseason favourites across the board.

The Reality: The end of a dynasty. City finished a distant third, 11 points behind Liverpool, and won no major trophies. Their Champions League exit was unspectacular, lacking their usual aura.

Why the Letdown? This wasn’t a close miss; it was an implosion. Pep Guardiola’s admission, “We are not what we were, but we will be again,” spoke volumes.

Key pillars crumbled: Rodri’s absence through injury destabilized their core, while reigning Player of the Year Phil Foden suffered a dramatic loss of form, compounded by injuries and off-field issues he described as “things bigger than football”.

Kevin De Bruyne’s influence waned before his departure. The relentless hunger of previous seasons vanished, replaced by vulnerability.

For fans accustomed to dominance, this sudden mediocrity – losing 4-0 at home to Tottenham (Nov 23) – felt like a betrayal of their identity. The “Groundhog Day” consistency of rivals like Liverpool magnified City’s fall.

3. Real Madrid (La Liga & Champions League)

Among Europe’s elite clubs, Real Madrid’s 2024–25 season stands out as a profound disappointment, given the sky-high expectations and the club’s storied history.

The Promise: With the marquee signing of Kylian Mbappé and a squad brimming with talent, Real Madrid entered the season as favorites to clinch La Liga and make a deep run in the Champions League. The anticipation was palpable, with fans expecting a return to dominance both domestically and in Europe.

The Reality: The season unraveled in unexpected ways. In La Liga, Real Madrid finished second, trailing behind arch-rivals Barcelona, who secured the title with a series of commanding performances.

The Champions League campaign was even more disheartening, as Madrid suffered a humiliating 5–1 aggregate defeat to Arsenal in the quarter-finals, marking one of their most lopsided exits in recent memory.

Why the Letdown? Several factors contributed to this underwhelming season:

Injuries and Squad Depth: Key players like Dani Carvajal and Éder Militão suffered long-term injuries, exposing a lack of depth in defense. The absence of adequate replacements led to a porous backline that struggled against top-tier opposition.

Underperformance of Star Players: While Mbappé secured the Pichichi and the Golden Boot, his integration into the team was less seamless than anticipated. The much-anticipated synergy between Mbappé and Vinícius Jr. failed to materialize consistently, leading to a disjointed attack.

Disciplinary Issues: The team grappled with on-field discipline, with key players receiving red cards at crucial junctures, further destabilizing performances and results.

The convergence of injuries, tactical missteps, and underwhelming performances from star players culminated in a season that fell dramatically short of expectations, leaving fans yearning for a revival of the club’s illustrious standards.

4. Inter Milan (Serie A & Champions League)

The Promise: After years of consistent excellence under Simone Inzaghi, including a Champions League final appearance in 2023, 2024-25 seemed poised for glory. Leading Serie A comfortably and strong in Europe, a historic Treble felt plausible.

The Reality: A soul-crushing, trophyless collapse. Inter surrendered the Serie A title in agonizing fashion, conceding a 90th-minute penalty to Lazio on the penultimate day to hand the Scudetto to Napoli.

The ultimate humiliation came in the Champions League final, where they were dismantled 5-0 by PSG in a performance devoid of fight or ideas.

Why the Letdown? This wasn’t just failure; it was a psychological blow. Inter’s cycle under Inzaghi seemed to hit a wall at the worst possible moment.

The final exposed their fatal flaws: an aging squad lacking pace and physicality, and crucially, no Plan B when their system was overwhelmed. Bringing on defenders while chasing the game against PSG’s flying wingers symbolized their tactical bankruptcy in the crisis.

For fans who dared to dream of a return to the pinnacle, the manner of this double collapse – from dominant to defeated in weeks – constitutes a profound sporting trauma.

The question now isn’t just “what went wrong?” but “where do we even go from here?”.

5. Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League & Europa League):

The Promise: Building on Ange Postecoglou’s first season, challenging for top four, playing exciting football, and maybe ending the trophy drought.

The Reality: A season of staggering contradiction and profound domestic failure. While they won the Europa League – their first trophy in 18 years – their Premier League campaign was nothing short of disastrous, finishing 17th (just one spot above relegation) with a club-record 22 defeats.

Why the Letdown? This unique duality makes the letdown complex but undeniable. The European glory in Dublin cannot erase the humiliation of being routinely beaten in the league, losing to relegation fodder, and playing often chaotic, defensively inept football.

Winning a second-tier European trophy feels like a consolation prize wildly out of proportion to their league position. Fans celebrated in May, but endured months of misery from August to April. The fundamental expectation – being competitive in the Premier League – was shattered utterly.

The trophy papered over cracks but couldn’t hide the fact that for 90% of the season, Spurs were one of England’s worst teams. Postecoglou’s future remains uncertain despite the final triumph, highlighting the season’s unresolved tension.

What binds these disparate disasters? The weight of expectation.

Manchester United and Real Madrid carry the inherent burden of their history; anything less than contention is failure.

Manchester City created their own dynasty; maintaining it became non-negotiable. Inter Milan and Tottenham dared their fans to dream of glory, raising hopes sky-high before the fall.

But the outcome is the same: a deep, resonant sense of betrayal among the faithful.

The road to redemption starts now, but for these clubs and their fans, the scars of this season will take a long time to heal.

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