Maybe, but in every game there is you get to have a "sense" of progress. The popularity of the app games is due to the quickly progress you can make in a couple of hours, that's the hook that grabs you to keep on going and continue to log on for days and even buy the stuff they offer. In this game weeks can pass and nothing.
Let's also consider small leagues, in both our countries we have few players, and the game becomes rather dull after awhile if we don't have something to shoot for. Training players and seeing them grow towards a skill is one of those things that can keep a manager to keep on going.