If there’s one thing that conveys the fans’ unhappiness and disappointment with their team at the end of the season, it is empty seats at the stadium. The months of April and May are when supporters start losing hope and, once the club is out of the reckoning for major titles or qualification for the Champions League, it is a hammer blow to the club who then look to finish as high as possible with the games in hand.
The 2016/17 season saw a number of clubs that have failed to deliver; either in the league or in Europe – or both. We look at five teams who probably let down their fans the most this season.
1) Manchester City (Premier League)
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£174.2m – that’s how much Manchester City invested in the transfer market in 2016. The squad went through a major overhaul to give Pep Guardiola the best chance of competing in the Premier League.
In came the likes of John Stones (£47.5m) who became the second-most expensive defender ever, Leroy Sane (£37m), a crocked Ilkay Gundogan (£20m), Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo (£15.4m) and Nolito (£13.8m). Gabriel Jesus (£27m) also arrived in January to bolster their attacking options.
His predecessor Manuel Pellegrini had been deemed a failure for not winning enough with this squad and it was an acid test for Guardiola whose fledgeling managerial career had seen him take over two world class squads at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Instead, he ends the season without a trophy for the first time in his career.
The Catalan boss started well, winning their first six games on the trot and staying top of the league for the first 10 weeks of the season. Then their season started to crumble.
Bravo was not even a half-decent shot-stopper compared to Joe Hart who had been sent out on loan, Sergio Aguero struggled to get Guardiola’s seal of approval until Jesus suffered an injury while David Silva drifted in and out of games, never really asserting himself as he did in the seasons he won the league title.
Guardiola himself was shocked by the style of play in England. His style of high-pressing was easily negated. “The ball is more in the air than the grass,” he pointed out while building from the back with an ageing defence made them very vulnerable.
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Two mid-season slumps saw them first fall out of the title race before exiting Europe on away goals to Monaco in a 6-6 aggregate scoreline – hardly a defensive masterclass while a struggling Arsenal knocked them out of the FA Cup. Considering the money spent on building this squad, just a top four finish is a colossal failure.
2) Paris Saint-Germain (Ligue 1)
Any club in Europe would be thrilled to have won two domestic cups, reached the final of a third and still in with a chance in the title race. Paris Saint-Germain fans have seen it all though. No other team in France has come close to winning titles while PSG steamrolled past everyone to domestic quadruples.
However, this season has been anything but ‘successful’ by their own standards. AS Monaco, once their partner in crime in spending lavish amounts of money to build a squad of superstars have done the exact opposite by promoting youth talent and succeeded.
The club from the principality are top of the league with a game in hand while they also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League – a feat PSG have struggled to emulate in the past few seasons. The fans no longer care for the lesser known domestic cups as that is least expected from a club with such a talented squad on high wages.
The departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic – serial winner of league titles – has had an effect and, even though Edinson Cavani has somewhat stepped up in his absence, elimination at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League destroyed the club’s morale. No team had come back to win from a 4-0 first-leg deficit and PSG capitulated in spectacular fashion
After signing Julian Draxler, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Goncalo Guedes and Jese (all ranging between €25m to €40m), they were thought to have a complete squad and make the step up in Europe. Sadly, it never came to pass.
3) Bayer Leverkusen (Bundesliga)
When the 2016/17 season got underway, Bayer Leverkusen were in the Champions League after having finished third last season. In truth, that was the only competition where they impressed in the group stages before bowing out in the Round of 16 thanks to an Atletico Madrid mauling as Diego Simeone’s side scored four away goals in the first leg.
In the Bundesliga, their form was abysmal. Die Werkself never managed to win more than two games in a row at any point this season. They have won only 10 games and lost 15. With two games to go, Leverkusen are three points away from having to play a relegation playoff.
“Our existence is at stake,” – Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller.
They have had their problems. Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez has been out of form which has coincided with various injuries. He has only scored 10 goals this season compared to 17 last season. 10 goals is also the highest in the squad.
Their next best player? Hakan Calhanoglu who was given a four-month ban by FIFA following a questionable transfer in 2011. Both he and new signing Kevin Volland have six goals to their name. Omer Toprak and Julian Brandt have also had injuries of their own to deal with.
This is a club that has regularly qualified for the Champions League. Now they’re looking to remain in the Bundesliga.
4) Inter Milan (Serie A)
Gone are the days of Inter Milan’s dominance in Italy and Europe, only to be replaced by alarming mediocrity following their last trophy win in 2011. The club are now a shadow of the side that, under Jose Mourinho, became the first Italian team to win the treble.
In spite of investing heavily in the squad this season, Inter now lie in seventh place with three games to go. As things stand, playing in the Champions League is a distant dream they will have to wait till next season to accomplish as they are outside Europa League places. 21 points behind third-place Napoli was definitely not in their plans.
The biggest outlay saw them spend on Joao Mario (€40m), Gabriel Barbosa (€30m) and Antonio Candreva (€22m). Stevan Jovetic (€13.5m) also arrived last summer but was loaned to Sevilla in January. Frank de Boer, who had won four Eredivisie titles with Ajax, was also appointed manager but he lasted only until October as Inter languished in 12th place.
Stefano Pioli took over and managed to turn around the club’s fortunes, taking them as high as fourth place. But a winless run in their last seven games (five losses) has seen the club out of European contention.
Also read: Dejected Inter coach Pioli says he will not quit
Mauro Icardi and Ivan Perisic have been their standout performers with 24 goals and 10 goals respectively. And if they see no change in the club’s ambition, they may look elsewhere for employment.
5) Leicester City (Premier League)
How quickly fairy tales can turn into absolute nightmares. After beating 5000/1 odds to lift the Premier League title last season, many expected Leicester City to at least compete for Champions League spots this season knowing full well that a repeat of their success was highly improbable.
Instead, we saw a team that looked out of place in the Premier League’s top half. The Foxes hardly “played like champions” and struggled to get going. Claudio Ranieri seemed to have lost his magic touch while players such as Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez – who were the toast of the league last season – saw their form dip to alarming levels.
Of course, the sale of N’Golo Kante to Chelsea did affect the structure of the team. But the loss of one player does not break apart the entire team. The sacking of Ranieri seemed inevitable and the club have managed to turn around their fortunes under Craig Shakespeare when relegation loomed over the King Power Stadium.
Also read: Leicester's Shakespeare to decide future after season ends
To their credit, they did go on an unlikely Champions League run and were the only English side to reach the quarter-finals in their first ever campaign in Europe. Many could say that last season was an outlier and that Leicester were only returning to the norm. But the squad, with a couple of additions in defence and midfield, did have the potential to compete with the other top six sides.
