I've always preferred it when we've been crap in pre season. I've always taken it to mean that the players are being flogged, training twice a day in sweltering conditions etc. It always seemed that there was an inverse relationship between how well we played in pre season and how well we played once the season started. That 2-3 second half "capitualation" to United in 2011 was, for me, the perfect preparation for the season.
The problem these days is that our players could probably prepare for a pre season game by undertaking a triathalon, and still dominate the game (as long as none of them drowned).