For context I believe we had European football to contend with in those seasons so more games, more fatigue and less time for training / perfecting ideas and patterns of play.
Also this season Utd, Newcastle and to a degree Chelsea underperforming (given squad value) meaning less competition for top 4 - we need to take advantage.
Yeah totally agree about Europe, and also the fact we went out of both cup conceptions this season very early.
I think a few teams underperform every season though and other teams do better than expected. Newcastle only really came into contention last season, and this season Aston Villa have come into contention. On the other hand Brighton looked a real threat last year but have dropped off a little. Arsenal have become stronger the past couple of seasons than previously. Man U have been all over the place during the last ten years. Chelsea too have had significant ups and downs from winning the league with Mourinho to sacking him to winning the Champions league with Tuchel to struggling to win a match with Potter.