Top Eleven Manager - How to win trophies without having to spend any money for tokens!

It is an undenied fact that the more you progress every season, the higher is the demand to improve your team in order to get any title you can. This sometimes may lead to frustration about your favorite game that will lead to the following dilema: Either I have to spent money even though I dont want to, or I quit game. Well it does not have to be this or that way.


Today I am going to show you how to be a successfull manager without having to spend any money for tokens.

Lets get the facts straight right here. You can not be successfull every season without coining. A new team match up based on equal quality was implemented some seasons ago in cup, champions league and league. So no matter if your team's quality is 3***, 4****, or 6******,  you are going to play against teams with same stats next year and results may not be that nice for you since your opponents might coin. This aggressive kind of play may produce frustration so here is what you need to remember.

First of all you got to keep calm. There is no need to leave game or keep on playing to continuously advance onto the next level, because the faster you progress the harder is going to be and while at low levels it seems acceptable, at higher levels you will face a lot of guys who value their money in a different way than you do.
There is absolutely no point to spend  $$$  just to compete with them. Everyone has his own pace and they should be respected even if they spend big time. It is their money to spend after all  and you have no right to judge them.  On the other hand noone has the right to force you play in a pace you do not enjoy.

To cut a long story short, my tactic is about one year advance a level while on next  year retain same level. This is what I am going to elaborate on.


This is my trophy room. There is a lot of effort involved with it, but not a single coin spent!

For now let's forget about cup and champions league - these are only side goals, your main priority is to win the league and this is where this guide will be focused on. This way you will earn a great amount of money and get qualified into next year's champions league which will offer you the opportunity to play 6 games with extra cash per game guaranteed.



1. Season 1: You aim for place 1-4. If you cant aim this high due to better opponents, simply switch into losing every game and stay in the same league level (rank 8-14). Play current season as described in step 2 below.


2. Season 2: Go to your finances, tv rights, pick the "extra for dedication" contract there. You are expected to log in daily so you will save all your tokens and by the end of the season you will have gathered at least 35 tokens for spending next season (28 days per season give 28 tokens + 1 extra for coming back four days in a row give another 7 = in total 35 tokens).
You will let your team deliberately lose all games while you stack tokens, money (no bonus win), green & red packs.
Your players should be trained regularly, preferably with hard training which will be a daily must but do not spend your players skill points, just save them for now. Also keep you low quality academy player/s because these ones will lower some  more your team's average quality.

Example of a team that has been deliberately set up to lose. Players out of position to underperform. Goalkeeper out of position to make opponent's ball possession go 80%. Focus passing through the middle while players stay on both sides just to make sure team gets defeated.

3. Season 3: You wait 3 days to be matched up with rivals at your current quality, so on day 3 when league starts you will have extra money, extra green & red packs but most important of all, you will have the whooping amount of 450+ skill points to spend and get this way a great headstart over your opponents.
After the third season day begins, you can sell your academy players. You will also want to strengthen your roster but shop wisely.
Always check other bids on that player you like to offer tokens before you do so. Check other bidder info, if you see a roster full of 6 star players, or an outrageous money budget for your standards, just forget about it. Try to get the best out of your current squad and try again for the player you need tomorrow.
After the initial tokens madness rush in the first days of the season, you may be able to cash in better value for your tokens/money. It is all about showing patience after all.





So this is it.  Rinse and repeat those 3 simple steps and you will  be a successful manager without coins involved.

Top Eleven Manager - Counter Formations & Orders Brakedown - How to set up your team for the Win!

*** UPDATED 2015 EDITION *** Before you choose your ideal counter formation, you need to compare both teams quality in order to decide about your team's orders.  Team Mentality If you are better 1 star or more quality, choose attacking mentality. If your opponent is better choose defensive mentality. Focus Passing If your formation has wingers focus passing should be set on down both flanks. If your formation has AMC focus passing should be set on through the middle.  Pressing Style Own half will do for 95% of your games. Whole pitch is only suggested when your opponent is really weak and you need to dominate the match. Tackling Style Normal for any team with a small roster to avoid injuries/cards. Hard for every team with a full roster that can take the suffering throughout whole season. Dont even try easy option. Passing Style Short will provide passes only if your lines are close to each other.(for example AML+AMR between middlefielders and strikers). If you are not sure about it, it is recommended to go with mixed. Long blends well with defensive mentality and counter attacks checked. On a side note: short passing will boost your passes completed % ingame stat, while long passing will make your attacks occur faster. Marking Style Always play zonal because this way your players cover each other. Force Counterattacks: Only with defensive mentality and long passes as mentioned above. Play offside trap: Only if you have compared both teams speed and you are faster. Three defenders perform offside trap much better than four. The following are only suggestions, they are not game changers. Let's not forget there is a thing called RNG (Random Number Generator) and sometimes can mess things up pretty bad, no matter how awesome you are as a Football Manager.  Opponent's Formation 5-4-1 5-3N-2 5-3W-2 5-1-3N-1 5-1-3W-1 5-1-2-1-1 Narrow Diamond 5-1-2-1-1 Wide Diamond 5-2-(2AML/AMR)-1 5-2(ML/MR)-2(AMC)-1 5-2-2(AMC)-1 5-2-1-2 X-Style 5-1-1-1-2 4-5-1 Flat 4-5-1 V-Style 4-4-2 4-1(DMC)-2-3 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond 4-1-2-1-2 Wide Diamond 4-1-2-2(AMC)-1 Loop 4-1-1-2W-2 4-1-1-2N-2 4-2(DMC)-1-2(AMC)-1 4-2(DMC)-1-2(AML/AMR)-1 4-3W-3 4-3N-3 4-1-3N-2 4-1-3N-1-1 4-1-3W-2 4-1-3W-1-1 4-2(DMC)-3W-1 4-2-3N(AMC)-1 4-2-3W(AMC)-1 4-3N-1-2 4-3W-1-2 4-3W-2(AMC)-1 Xmas Tree 4-3N-2(AMC)-1 4-3N-2W-1 4-2-2-2 Hexagon 4-1(DMC)-2(MC)-3 4-1-2(AMC)-3 4-2-1-3 4-1-4-1 4-4-1-1 3N-5-2 Flat 3W-5-2 Flat 3N-5-1-1 3W-5-1-1 3W-4-3 3N-4-3 3W-1-4-2 3W-1-4-1-1 3N-1-4-2 3N-5-2 V-Style 3W-5-2 V-Style 3W-2(DMC)-3W-2 3N-2-3W(AML/AMC/AMR)-2 3W-2-3W(AML/AMC/AMR)-2 3N-3-2W(AML/AMR)-2 3W-2-3W-1-1 Maple Leaf 3W-2(DMC)-2W-1-2 3W-2N-2N-2W-1 3N-2N-1-2W-2 3N-1-2-1-3 3W-1-5-1 3W-1-3W-2(AMC)-1 3N-1-3W-2(AMC)-1 3W-1-3W-1-2 3N-1-3W-1-2 Dandelion 3N-1-4-1-1 3W-1-3N-1-2 3N-4-1-2 3W-4-1-2 3N-2(DML/DMR)-3N-2 3N-2(DML/DMR)-2-1-2 3-2-2-2-1 Butterfly Counter Formation 4-4-2 OR 3-5-2 Flat 3N-4-1-2 OR 4-4-2 3N-4-1-2 OR 4-4-2 3N-5-2 V-Style 3N-5-2 V-Style 3N-5-2 V-Style 3N-5-2 V-Style 4-4-2 4-2-2-2 Hexagon 3N-1-3W-1-2 OR 3N-1(DMC)-3W-3 3N-1-4-2 4-3-3 OR 4-2-2-2 Hexagon 3-5-2 Flat OR 3-5-2 V-Style 3N-2(DML/DMR)-3N-2 OR 4-3N-3 3N-4-1-2 OR 4-3W-1-2 OR 3-2-2-2-1 Butterfly 4-1-4-1 4-5-1 V-Style OR 3N-5-2 V-Style 3-5-2 Flat 4-2(DMC)-2-2 Hexagon 3N-3(DML/DMC/DMR)-2-2 OR 3N-2N-1-2W-2 4-5-1 V-Style 3N-1-4-1-1 5-2-2(AML/AMR)-1 OR 4-4-2 4-4-2  OR 4-5-1 V-Style 4-1-4-1 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1 3N-5-2 V-Style 4-5-1 V-Style OR 4-4-2 5-1(DMC)-2-2 3-2-2-2-1 Butterfly 3W-2(DMC)-3W-1-1 OR 3W-2(DMC)-3W-2 OR 4-4-2 4-4-2 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1 OR 4-5-1 V-Style 4-1-4-1 OR 3N-1-4-2 3W-2(DMC)-3N-1-1 Eiffel Tower OR 4-5-1 Flat 3W-2(DMC)-3W-1-1 Maple Leaf 4-4-1-1 3N-4-1-2 OR 4-5-1 V-Style OR 3-4-3 4-1-4-1 5-1-3W-1 4-5-1 V-Style OR 4-3N-2W-1 4-2-2-2 Hexagon OR 3W-4-3 3-5-2 Flat OR 4-5-1 V-Style 3-2-2-2-1 Butterfly OR 4-3-2(AML/AMR)-1 4-5-1 V-Style 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond 4-2-2-2 Hexagon 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1 OR 4-4-2 OR 3-5-2 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond 4-5-1 V-Style 4-5-1 V-Style 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1 OR 4-2-2-2 Hexagon 3-2-2-2-1 Butterfly 3W-5-2 flat 3-2-2-2-1 Butterfly OR 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond OR 4-4-2 4-4-2 OR 4-3-3 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1 4-5-1 V-Style OR 3N-1-4-2 3W-5-2 V-Style 4-4-2 3-2-2-2-1 Butterfly 4-1-3N-2 OR 4-5-1 V-Style 4-3N-2W-1 4-5-1 V-Style 4-5-1 V-Style 3-2(DMC)-3-1-1 Eiffel Tower OR 3N-5-2 Flat 4-5-1 V-Style OR 4-4-2 OR 4-1-2-1-2 Wide Diamond 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond 4-5-1 V-Style 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond 4-5-1 FLAT OR 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond OR 3-5-2 FLAT 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond 4-2-2-2 OR 4-3N-2(AML/AMR)-1 "W" = Wide "N" = Narrow "V-Style", "Narrow Diamond", "Wide Diamond" etc. = How the formation looks on the field. Use at your own risk. If you have to choose one formation out of two or more, pick the one your players are better than your opponent's and on good shape at that given time.