The first GE had a bug in the values at the end of the matches. Training JS there was a boost in the value in OD so personally I thought to have solid value in OD and I didn't train a lot. Don't remember exactly but I think the bug has been fixed on season 5 or 6. Then to boost the game for one or two seasons there was a double training, players grew up faster.
In my opinion GE is still not well balanced, in the past was worse than today
1990-2022 Stalinorgel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV-Xppl6h8Et