I think both of these aspects are here by design that make the game a little slower. As a the BB community ages, real-life responsibilities are taking over and not everybody can log in so frequently to look for new players on the transfer list to "buy them now" or set a new tactic for a different opponent (perhaps after careful analysis of their pervious games) every day. By design, BB is a slow game that you can enjoy over a longer time and not get your fill of the matches until the matchdays are nothing special anymore within a couple of days.
The good thing is that with private leagues and pickup games you can increase the number of games you can play within a week, though without any effects of the injuries, economy, etc. Maybe the new BB will have something new as well, such as different tournaments and ladder matches in Hattrick if you're a supporter.