A success? Only one team did better than us? Liverpool, Bayern, Madrid, Juve, PSG all did better than us. We're not some small club that only competes domestically, we're one of the elite in Europe and they are our rivals.
Khaldoon himself said it wasn't a successful season. Our standards are different. We've spent the most money in world football, a midtable finish 15 years ago is the same as finishing 18 points behind last season.
We're a different team than we were 15 years ago with different goals. If we don't win major trophies, it's a disappointing season.