Always a stupid way of looking at it.
88 is not enough in those seasons because there's a team there on 90 points, 93, 89, 92 whatever. 88 means third in all those seasons.
What is the rationale to conveniently remove the team in second and replace them with a team on fewer points? Remove the team in third with a team on 88 points and what do you know, still third. Because another team is on 90 points.
A team needs to get what the team in the position you are aiming for gets, not aim for a smidge more than the team one place below got.