Ask any Manchester United fan whether they think that the achievement from last season was exceptionally well. I am sure you will be told that they expect the qualification for the Champions League as a standard achievement considering the history and prestige of the club. You can't call a 4th rank an exceptional achievement for Manchester United. It was good, but it's nowhere near where the club sees itself.
It would actually be said if the 4th rank was an exception in recent years. Manchester United is looking at their rival Manchester City for over a decade now and they never managed to finish just one season ahead of them. I am sure this hurts everyone who loves the club and they want the good old times back.
Manchester United's performance in the first 10/12 matches of last season was very poor. But even then with the help of ten hag they made a great comeback. Gradually the performance of the team stabilized. And finally they managed to get into the top four of the table. However another reason why Manchester united is in the top four of the table is the poor performance of teams like Liverpool, chelsea and tottenham.
After qualifying for the Champions League, United fans' expectations of the Ten hag increased. But since the start of this season, several key players in United's squad have been out of the squad due to injuries. Ten Hag have yet to find their best XI. Because of this, Manchester united's performance is still weak and erratic. Once the players return to the squad, perhaps we will see a return to stability in Manchester United's performance. However Ten Hag needs more time to stabilize the team.
But it is crucial to keep in mind how Manchester United was able to make the cut for the Champions League qualification last season. On the one hand they played better when it was later in the season and they had good results and collected points accordingly. But more importantly, some of the usual favorites had problems and did not collect points, which is what ultimately gave Manchester United the edge to make it into the Champions League. I assume they would not have been able to qualify for it if all other teams played to the best of their abilities. Tottenham and Liverpool were both far below their standards and not to mention Chelsea here, but that is almost a different story by now.