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A lot of people are talking about all the progress we have made this season, but have we really made this significant progress everyone is talking about? If we look at the facts we were knocked out of the Carling Cup before it really started(4th round), we were knocked out of the FA Cup before it really started(4th round again) and we were knocked out of the CL in the Quarter finals, all other teams from the PL in the same competition reached the semis. We will most likely get our best point tally ever in the league and we have mounted a serious title challenge, but if we look behind these facts what do we find when we look at the numbers? Against the other top 4 teams we have had our best season ever under Rafa getting 14 out of 18 possible points, thats progress but its also just a small number of games, is it right to talk about progress if you really only have improved in a few specific games when you look at the season as a whole? The fact is, in the 05/06 season we got 78 points against the dross in the league, this season we will get maximum 72 points if we win our two last matches. I find it hard to call that progress. If we look at our home form we have got 40, 48, 46 and 42 points in Rafa`s time here, at the moment we have 40 points with one game to go so thats hardly any great progress either. Where we have made some progress though is against the top four teams like I showed above where I think we have doubled our point tally this season compared to our best season prior to this one. We have also improved our away form, having an earlier record with 18, 34, 22 and 34 points. We are on 40 points now with one game to go, so thats massive improvement in this departement, but is it enough to say we really have progressed on the whole this season? For me we have progressed in bits and pieces and gone backwards in others, just like every season under Rafa, what makes this season different is that we have won he vital games against Chelsea and the mancs denying them points and gaining a few ourselves, but at the moment it looks like that will not be enough and once again we will finish the season empty handed. Combined with our early exit in all Cup competitions I`m nor really overly satisfied just because our league campaign have turned out allright. To round it all off this is how it looks like if we compare ourselves home and away against the mancs tha last five seasons. 04/05: Home: 3. Man Utd 19 12 6 1 31-12 42p 4. Liverpool 19 12 4 3 31-15 40p Away: 3. Man Utd 19 10 5 4 27-14 35p 10. Liverpool 19 5 3 11 21-26 18p 05/06: Home: 2. Liverpool 19 15 3 1 32-8 48p 4. Man Utd 19 13 5 1 37-8 44p Away: 1. Man Utd 19 12 3 4 35-26 39p 3. Liverpool 19 10 4 5 25-17 34p 06/07: Home: 1. Man Utd 19 15 2 2 46-12 47p 2. Liverpool 19 14 4 1 39-7 46p Away: 1.Man Utd 19 13 3 3 37-15 42p 5. Liverpool 19 6 4 9 18-20 22p 07/08: Home: 1. Man Utd 19 17 1 1 47-7 52p 4. Liverpool 19 12 6 1 43-13 42p Away: 3. Man Utd 19 10 5 4 33-15 35p 4. Liverpool 19 9 7 3 24-15 34p 08/09: Home: 1. Man Utd 18 16 1 1 43-13 49p 2. Liverpool 18 11 7 0 38-12 40p Away: 2. Liverpool 18 12 4 2 34-14 40p 3. Man Utd 18 11 4 3 24-11 37p