Thanks for the answers although I do not get much comfort from them. I am at level 11 - bad sign according to your posts !
This week-end I tried to let the game alone just for a check: result 1 win (apparently lucky), 1 draw, 2 losses - all against much weaker sides ! It's just mad ! I'm on a 4-game winless run in league which is by miles my "record". All against much weaker sides...
I often make fun here of managers who complain agaisnt the game. I hope I'm not about to be a member of the club!
There are not many parameters you can play with there: quality of players, tactics, morale, fitness, win bonuses, crowd. Then it is all about what the others do: their quality, their tactics and how you adapt to them. Today I played at home against a side (12 Q pts below my team - manager absent of course !) on 3-2-3-2: all players being in central position ! I said to myself: this is gonna be a slaughter !! My 2nd favourite tacticts uses 2 lateral DM and 2 lateral AM (my 4 best players) and of course, I played down the wings in the wide open space offered by my friendly opponent: result 2-2 (with a late minute goal for me). Last year it would have been 6 or 7-0. But now I am just puzzled.