Winning the Game

With those basics in mind, winning games should now come easy, so staying on top is simply a matter of checking in regularly and managing the squad. Still, it doesn't hurt to attend a few games at strategic times.

Attending

Looking at a match itself is always the better way to assure a win. Here it's possible to monitor a player's condition, their rating and how passing and shooting is going. In particular, pay attention if the team is getting a lot of captured chances, but isn't finishing enough. That's usually a working point.

This is also the place to perform substitutions for weak performances and a chance to adjust tactics. The latter is the most important, since it alters the game. Usually try to only play Hold Possession and Time Wasting in the last twenty or so minutes, while opting for Tough Tackling and Pressure Play early on, if the match isn't going well. At a comfortable lead, go for Long Ball as often as possible. If your team's Finishing stats have been doing well, feel free to opt for shooting on sight, otherwise try to avoid it.

Fixtures

In the Fixtures tab, you can check what games are important to attend live. Pick to watch, in order of importance, your direct opponent, the Cup Matches or the Golden Hour games that yield more currency. Anything else is filler, but it isn't unimportant to skip completely.

In this tab, make sure to check Compare for each opponent and then apply a Tactical Card in the Tactics button next to them. Be as relevant as possible, so if a team has a weak defense, raise your offense and so on. Again, Tactical Cards, such as those who are only active for ten minutes or only come into effect when players are injured, can be combined for new ones. Do that whenever applicable.

Apply a Tactical Card for each and all matches, literally every single one. You should have more than enough to go around at all times and you want to have as many edges as you can on the other team. Apply several boosters at a time for the games you don't want to attend and try to check the important ones beforehand.

Money

The reason why you shouldn't ever be conservative in your spending is that you'll frequently be given new funds at the start of the game. Always go check the United Eleven Tab for completed missions and News. These will systematically hand out more currency. Also, log in daily, even if you don't want to attend a lot that day. Simply setting up a dozen tactical cards is already better than not logging in and losing the huge money drops that comes from it. You'll be thankful after the week bonus hits.

For additional cash and items, play Daily Matches and Tour games upon downtime, since normal fixtures only run from 9AM to 11PM. That way, you can still play plenty if you didn't catch United Eleven at that time. Alternatively, it doesn't require you to stay on call 24/7, like some of the more addictive free-to-play titles.

Keep Buying

It's important not to settle on a squad and let it ride, because the opposition is constantly evolving. Keep periodically dipping into a few Premium Cards for new star positions and purchase lots of Basic Cards for Partner Training fodder. This is equally true to keep a stack of Tactical Cards and to use Support Packs to increase special abilities in Special Training. No card is ever a lost purchase.

Cup

Winning the Cup is another source of quick money and it's usually pretty easy to do in the first few leagues. Unless there's a direct opponent adjacent to a Cup fixture, try to focus on that for startup cash.

Crush the Opposition

By following the previous steps and periodically checking in and raising your team, your winning chances should be significantly enhanced to at least float in the promotion zone at all times. It's not a guarantee, but more than likely, you'll be either first or fighting another human opponent for the top place. In ideal circumstances, you should win so frequently that your lead is comfortable enough that you can leave for hours on end without fearing a drop.

Good luck!

Post-start: Going Forward

A thing not addressed in the guide is Gold Cards, because they're so infrequent that they may not happen to the majority of players, until late on in the game. Still, going towards the higher leagues, you'll want to collect several of these, either through the sheer luck of Premium Cards or by leveling up Cards that are marked “Yes” on their potential rating. Any one of these can make a huge difference in a squad and they should always be the focus. It might require reconfiguring the squad altogether.