So it sounds like Team Chemistry might have been your problem? Because, the more I think about it, the more I think it was mine.
When I first visited this screen, the bar on the top right was orange (unhappy). I had no troublemakers, but no captain and no leaders. And in the bottom right, the complaint was that the team lacked veterans. I wish I had the before and after, but I can only offer the after.
Markus does not do things lightly. If he includes a Team Chemistry aspect in the game, you can count on it being a factor in player performance and won/loss record.
Problem is, there's a bunch of
other aspects that he includes, too . . .