You've got to feel sorry for Manchester United fans after the season they've endured.

They could be forgiven for thinking they had come down with Jose Mourinho's 'traditional' third-season-syndrome and the renaissance after his sacking suggested that was the case.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was heralded as the club's saviour during his time as interim manager, bringing back an attacking brand of football and securing a slew of victories along the way.

However, the honeymoon period is well and truly over, with United finishing the season on the same note they started it on.

The Red Devils were knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolverhampton Wanders, thrashed in the Champions League by Barcelona and their top four charge ended in something of a whimper.

Man Utd's continued struggles

They were battered 4-0 away to Everton, failed to beat one of the worst Premier League teams in history in this current Huddersfield Town side and lost at home to Cardiff City on the final day.

As a result, there's a real sense of disillusionment at Old Trafford and one can imagine that Mourinho is lurking somewhere with a smug smile on his face.

Well, that certainly seems to be the case after a recent interview with L'Equipe, which saw him resurface a quote of his that caused great controversy at the time.

Mourinho back his 'second place' comment

The Portuguese told the press last August: “But I keep saying and thinking and feeling that the second last season was one of my biggest achievements in the game.”

What once appeared as an unnecessary bout of negativity has started to ring true and United fans have come to understand the comment on social media in recent weeks.

It's perhaps uncanny then, that the man himself has referenced the quote and also given a brief analysis of United's problems in more depth than ever.

He told the French publication: "I said 9 or 10 months ago that after winning 8 championships, finishing second with United may have been my greatest achievement. Now people understand.

“About Manchester United, I want to say only two things. One is that time has spoken. Two is that the problems are still there.

“Was I a victim of Pogba? No. The problems are there, you can imagine that the problems are the players, the organisation, the ambition, I only say that I can not say yes when you ask if Paul was the only one responsible.”

Fascinating stuff but above everything else, Mourinho is bang on the money with people understanding his quote about the second place finish.

When you consider that so little has changed at Old Trafford since the end of last season, it seems increasingly impressive Mourinho could make them Manchester City's biggest threat.

Sure, they weren't even vaguely in the Premier League title race, but they were comfortably ahead of Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal teams that are now topping them.

Most United fans stand by the decision to sacking Mourinho, yet it's becoming clearer and clearer that the warning signs have been their for almost a year.

Where do you think United will finish next season? Have your say in the comments section below.