No shit, but this goes back to realistic expectations doesn't it? Was your expectation last season to be in a title race? Was that down to your lack of faith in Ole or your lack of faith in the squad? I'd say decent is finishing 2nd, it's not fantastic but it's something to build on and push on for the following season.
My expectation this season for example was to push for the title, probably not get it, but at least be close by May. Whereas last season was more about finishing above the rest and improving on the points total from 19/20. Whether Ole can meet those expectations are highly debatable, I don't really think he can do it and if he cant then ultimately we'd need to find someone who can ready for next season. That doesn't mean I have to slag off his previous accomplishments however, this is his make or break season ultimately.
Is finishing 2nd decent or very good? You use different words to describe that achievement. You have been mentioning his rebuilding job as being 'excellent'. I've been saying that it's decent in my view, sure I didn't necessarily expect us to finish 2nd and 3rd, however I think many would have thought we were closer than we are now.
Context is king here.
We had 2 awful runs of form last season, each of which were due to circumstances out of the club's control (unless you think we should have thrown the European games post-lockdown in 19/20 and not bothered with the cups and EL last season). We had no preseason which had us massively undercooked and caused us to have a horrible start. We then drifted off our pace at the end of the season in large part because we had to play 4 games in 7 days due to the Super League protests.
Outside of both of those instances we actually lost only one game between 1st November to the end of April and I think we were picking up points at a rate that would have had us comfortably above 80 points in a normal season.
We had a very short pre-season thas true. This season we have again as England made it to the Euro-final. We threw the match vs Leicester but against Liverpool, Fulham those players were rested and we just dropped points and weren't good enough.
I don't think comparing the second half of a season to a full season is a good way to measure progress. Because what if those other games you didn't include would have resulted in it being worse than the season we came 2nd. Anyways there's a major division on how much progress we've made under Ole but at least most of us all agree a title challenge is the minimum expectation this season.
Well we roughly played the same teams, maybe rather home than away or in our case away rather than home, but it's still 19 games worth of playing all the PL opponents. The significance in rise of fo
Do you actually read what you write?
What you're saying here is the only way Ole would gain credit in your eyes was to finish 2nd but also be much closer to City. I.E. 2nd meant nothing last season because we were 12 points adrift. Clearly ignoring the fact that the season before when we finished 3rd we were 33 points adrift.
This forum is crazy at times and even we all established that finishing 2nd (no matter the points) would be a decent accomplishment last season. It just sounds like to me that you don't want to give him any credit in the slightest and just make up unrealistic expectations (that's really not warranted) to attack him. You can critise the performances, but our results in the league have been decent under Ole and have shown a steady climb in the right direction. Even our cup runs (with the exception of the Champions League) have been decent. Obviously, a major failing being not getting us a trophy, but we've always been close.
No need for that snarkish comment but anyway. I am not saying 2nd meant nothing last season as we were 12 points adrift, stop putting words in my mouth. The fact that we improved in league position is just not the be all, or end all. It is also good that we closed the gap, but I also think City were nowhere near as good as the 2 seasons before. Where I would have expected United to be, considering the time and money invested, we would have amassed far more points than a measly 74. If you have different expectations and want to celebrate that, be my guest.
Finishing 2nd was a decent accomplishment, mainly position wise. Not excellent or very good in my book, and neither am I making unrealistic expectations or attacking him.
If you think struggling to get to finals, even against opposition that should be weaker than us, and losing most semi-finals, and the only final, that is also good for you.
As I pointed out however, our form last season in the PL was actually not as good as our form when Bruno joined under 19/20. So there is more ways to look at this continuos 'progress' that is mentioned each and everytime.
