Thanks, I feel the same. Play the ball, not the man eh? People are free to find and exploit weaknesses in this game, I understand that's half of the fun. I'm fairly new to the game, compared to most, so I'm still enjoying finding good players and developing a balanced team which will perform well. Not great, apart from a few seasons ago when everything just 'clicked' and I got a treble. Like ManU back when Scholes and Solskar and Sheringham won it. I'm a 'Pool fan but that night was a glorious event. Even better because we beat a German team (childish, yes, but still it was as good as the 5-0 when England beat Germany).
Anyway, the good times are made even better when you go through a season with no chance of even a double. This season I'm 17-0-1, so I'm in first place, right? No. A Dutch team which is 15% better than mine is 18-0-0 as they beat me at home. Champions League I'm in the 1/4 finals and I'll probably face the same team in the Final. Cup? Semi-final first leg down 4-1 to the same team! Arhhhggg!
I saw this after the first week of this season, so have been concentrating on the next season. I swear Nordeus thought I'd pay out big money to improve my team, as if I could beat this one team I'd be on for a treble. I paid out before, so I see their algorithm's logic. Instead I'm saving rests every day, finding 18 y/o players who I'll train really hard early next season, I'm 14 points ahead of the third-placed team in my league so no chance I won't qualify for the CL next season. Biding my time, building a strong base, no short cuts. Also now waiting to see how this new adaption in training develops. We in the Top Eleven universe live in interesting times.