to get team understanding you need to keep the players for a season and play well, when i was newcastle i sold 2/3 players and bought 5/6 so the team understanding was low so i kept the same team, had some decent tactics and at the end of the season i was 4th, i then got rid of 2/3 players and bought 1/2 this didn't change it much and i then went on selling a few and buying a few and won the league 3 years on the bounce

friendlies definately help morale, try playing your under 18's

hope this helps