It's a big pain, actually, as you move up levels because you have to set that practice plan each time, and if you don't, you are going to keep running into this problem. However, it makes sense because any new coach in real life would have to spend time putting a system in place, so it is expected we do the same thing...
Also, players do improve mostly only after games are played, but most of that is in relation to your practice settings as michaeldartt said, not necessarily the game play itself.