There's a team in my division who at the start of the season (haven't checked since opening day) was the second strongest after todays results he's now 8th

I'd love to ask him what his tactics are as he's not tanking he's genuinely getting beat regularly by inferior teams. The only reason i can think of other than crazy tactics is that most of the players he's bought are youth academy rejects sold by people who are several levels above.

If this isn't the case with your players maybe you have the same problem i had at the start of the season. My best MC from the previous 2 seasons kept getting low match ratings. I don't know why as he was the best player in midfield, probably my whole team. After putting up with it for a week he just became another player shown the door and his replacement is more than filling his boots