The key is to back out of any potential bidding wars. I am always there when the first day of a new season starts to buy players. I do not buy all 5-star players on the first day. I buy 4-star players also and play defensively to get me good results in CL group stage, free 3-star players so I can resell later for money also. Usually when the first day just starts, there are less people bidding on players than later. After the first week, the heat of bidding wars cool off and I will buy the rest of 5-star players. I often spend max 3-4 tokens to get a player.
For the tokens, I can get close to 100 tokens by watching videos, installing software, and doing surveys because I live in North America. There may be plenty of people winning the Cup without gaining 0 tokens from videos and surveys. It can be true, but it also depends on the server on which you're on. I am on an active and competitive one, so many buy scouts and power train also.
It's all about timing and patience to buy players without wasting hard-earned tokens. Just FYI, and I play it that way for fun because it's just a game anyway, so you can save your respect and there's no need to mention it because I don't know you so I don't really care about that respectPeace out!