All those are reasons why I wanted to quit the game this summer, yet I'm still back for this season because of all the nice people I met with Top Eleven really. And there is next to none better football management game out there which is not pay to win.
It bothers me, that you can't really play the game competitively in a sense, where you just outsmart your opponent by strategy, tactics, planning and so on. An unusual result can appear behind every corner.

For me the way I play this game is just casually leaning back and try to enjoy it as much as possible... That means no spending on the game at all and also not put too much time in it, as it would probably only disappoint me then when I lose against people who don't.
If that's what Top Eleven developers wanted then yes. I think they earn their money with new players (if I take a look down at low levels on my server, there are so many 8 star teams and so on) or some hardcore players to an extent.