Growth and Management

Since everyone starts off on the lowest league, picking a squad of star players should win a few matches effortlessly, but the team needs to grow to beat real opponents who are doing the same thing. Boosting the active formation is important, but so is keeping it fresh.

You should have a few support cards. If not, head to the Shop tab and stack up on a few dozen Support Packs (1,500) with leftover funds. These yield Training Cards, Tactical Cards and Items. All those things are vital.

Player Training

In the Training tab, the Partner Training section is the reason why every card needs to be kept. These serve as fodder to feed to star players, which raises their experience and allows them to level up, until their maximum indicated in the top right, above their face.

Up to 5 lesser members can be fed to a star player at a time. For optimal results, always try to feed as high of a card that can be missed, in the same position as the card that's being leveled up. Upon reaching a new level, try to favor stats that are in the position's best interest, such as Offense for a forward. More importantly, look for stats that are near to 60 and tip those over the edge, as they will unlock Unity capabilities.

As a side note: In lower leagues, you may want to keep a few players from leveling too often, as your maximum lineup number can be exceeded, upsetting your formation.

Special Training

In the special training section, it's possible to give the most important cards additional abilities. These go from upping stats when scoring a goal to increasing potency upon a certain passing percentage. It should be relatively easy to give a keeper up to 8 great specials quickly. Favor items that are active before getting a goal against, for obvious reasons.

Moreover, it's possible to fuse two or more Training Cards together that aren't appealing. Do that to receive a random new one, because you won't ever use the crappier ones. You want your team to have many good modifiers as quickly as possible. For instance, a good passer could be set up with 1st Assist, 2nd Assist and so on, easily making their stats climb ever higher. Items like Penalty shootouts or low condition markers will rarely be applicable and should be combined.

There should always be at least one player during an active match with a modifier running. If not, you don't have enough. Apply more that are relevant.

Items

In the Squad tab, the Item category should be visited periodically, to ensure your team is running smoothly. This is done mostly by giving cards Vitamins to improve their form, indicated by the arrows on the right of their icon, but also Mint Gum to boost condition, shown by the segmented bar underneath their icon.

Should team members get yellow cards, don't waste time using many Clear Record items, unless you plan on being away for a while and key positions have 3 shots to their name. Instead, simply wait until they accrue a red card and use Appeal Letter to strike the record fully. Of course, use a First Aid Kit if anyone gets hurt.

With items, you keep that one team running for ages, so you don't have to fiddle with backup squads. Moreover, it keeps the boosted cards in with all modifiers present. It's just more cost effective in the end. You'll be getting some items left and right, but buying them in the Shop comes cheap as well.