Tips for beginners

here are some basic tips for beginning managers, especially if they have a starting team.

Manage your finances 

Never run out of cash. Having to choose which player to train because you can't train everyone is severely detrimental to the future of your team. If this means you have to sell your best player it is usually worth it for the future of the whole team.

Have a plan

Focus on key players for training, don't waste resources on rubbish. If your starting team has 27/7 or similar players either they should be gone within a season so there's no point wasting money training them to get their form up. Even if they are low form and you need to play them then do so.

There are articles here on team building so from the outset you need to make a rough idea of the side you plan to have at the end of the first season and weed out the rubbish.


Don't go wild at the start. if you take over a team with lots of money don't spend it all before you know what's what.  if you are a new manager get past a CR before doing anything adventurous - that way you can see how players develop and will have more time to appreciate prices. Everybody makes mistakes they regret their first few months.

Transfer market basics

The transfer market is dynamic like ebay, so prices go up until the player is sold. Generally speaking you should always evaluate players before buying and if they are older players you certainly want to keep the teamwork good. Youths are less important in this regard as they have more time to converge with your team. typically it might take 4-5 seasons for a youngster to go from poor to good.

Be especially wary of divas - it's a great SQ if the teamwork is good but awful if it isn't.

One anomaly of the transfer market is you can reduce your bid - but only as far as the current bidding level. EG if a player is listed at 1m, you bid 5m and the current bidding goes up to 1.5m then you can reduce your bid to 1.5m (or higher) if you wish.

Youth Academy

The Youth Acedemy can provide a valuable alternative to the transfer market but it can easily sap all your funds. It is always worth investing a minimal 50k in the YA but increase this sparingly over time.

Match tactics

When starting out I would suggest sticking to tried and tested formations and playing styles. 451, 352 and 442 are the safest formations to play. Avoid long balls until you have got used to things. You should probably always use pressure. Also read my post on playing styles as you are more likely to drop points playing too offensively than too defensively. A minimal win bonus of 50k is a must but avoid spending more til you have a feel for things and more funds available.

How to win at Xpert Eleven

Simply put there are 2 areas in Xpert Eleven that you need to master.

You need to understand the best ways of making money and building your team so you can have one of the strongest teams in your league.

You need to learn about tactics - what works for you and the teams you build so you can get the maximum potential out of those team.