I can say this will happen if your using same style of play and mabye not used to the team .

I had some players I've got and my results went worse even though they was better players .

I did however using my cheap team on 17 and 18 get similar results like gold 1 and Elite but defo easier with high tier .

As if pace was only factor i could win just with silver players like older fifas .

Star players imo are the key as when I had my team last year with full 90pace and 90 stats I got much more wins than my cheap team .

Like the style of a player can make a huge impact to your team and I had Butra last year and 1st week noticed he made shots look easy compared to a Mertens .

But work rates and tactics play 50% this year as abuse for now hopefully is gone.

It's not as good for me as 17 with tactics and runs but defo notice a change with high attacking and aggression in runs .