DT Manager vs ELDT: two Argentine football manager games

If you searched for DT Manager on Google and ELDT came up, it is not a search engine error: they are two Argentine football manager games, both free and browser-based, but with very different ideas of what it means to be a manager. DT Manager (dtmanager.win) is a career mode for playing on your own. ELDT is an online football manager game where you manage a club against other people. This article compares the two based on what each game says about itself, without making anything up, so you can choose the one that suits you (or play both).

What is DT Manager?

According to its own website, DT Manager is a free football simulator played in your browser, with nothing to install and no account required. Your career is saved on your device. You start by choosing your manager's name, nationality, league country, team and manager "licence", and the game puts you in charge of a real club: it includes 30 leagues from 22 countries, with more than 568 clubs, including Argentina's top two divisions.

The squads are created by the game itself: fictional players with a name, position, age and overall rating. You choose a formation (there are more than twenty) and an approach (defensive, balanced or attacking), and the match engine decides the result based on the squad's strength, the formation and that approach. You can watch the match, simulate it or simulate the entire season in one go. There is a transfer market with a budget, contracts and renewals, an academy, domestic and international cups, board objectives, injuries, suspensions and a manager reputation that rises or falls. Everything is against the computer.

It is an independent project, made by a football and manager-game fan, and supported by advertising and voluntary donations.

What is ELDT?

ELDT is also free and also played in a browser (or the Android app), but it is a multiplayer, persistent game. When you register, you are given a fictional club from Argentina's lower divisions, with a neighbourhood, nickname, colours, squad, academy, stadium and bank balance, within a pyramid of divisions featuring promotion and relegation. The other clubs in your league are managed by other people, who prepare for each match just like you; where there are not yet enough players, the game runs the clubs under the same rules.

The league is played on Thursdays and Saturdays at 21:00 (Argentine time), the Copa ELDT takes place on Tuesdays and there are friendlies during the week. Every match is covered live, minute by minute, at the same time for the entire division. Between matches, you decide the weekly training schedule (seven skills, intensity and coaching staff), rotate players according to fatigue, promote academy youngsters, negotiate sponsorships, set ticket prices and manage the finances. The transfer market works through three-day auctions between managers, with loans and a 10% commission for each side; the community sets the price, not a table.

The differences, one by one

On your own or against other people

This is the fundamental difference. In DT Manager, you play whenever you want, against the artificial intelligence, and can finish a season in an afternoon. In ELDT, the calendar keeps moving even when you are offline: Saturday's opponent is a real person who watched your last match and changed their formation to counter you. Winning a league in ELDT takes months, which is why it matters.

Real clubs or your own club

DT Manager lets you manage a real club, with its real name, and fictional squads. ELDT took the opposite approach: fictional clubs with an Argentine identity, where the only thing that matters is what you build. You are not managing the club you see on television; you are creating the story of a new one, and if you reach the Primera División, Argentina's top flight, it is because you got there.

Transfer market and signings

In DT Manager, the market is against the game: you buy and sell within your budget and the engine decides the prices. In ELDT, transfers are auctions between people: if you list a player for sale, another manager buys them; if you bid for a promising youngster, you compete against other clubs until the auction closes. There are guides to it on the blog, such as how to buy cheaply and sell well.

Saving and devices

DT Manager saves your career in your device's browser: there is no account, which makes it convenient to get started, but your career does not move to another phone. ELDT requires a free registration and saves everything in the cloud: you can carry on from your computer, mobile or the app, and your club will not be lost.

Depth and time

DT Manager is designed for quick progress. ELDT is a game that takes 10 or 15 minutes a day over an entire season: setting your line-up, training, and checking the market and fitness levels. Its systems are deeper (morale, fatigue, injuries lasting 1 to 15 days, stadium improvements, bank loans and club events) because there is time for them to matter.

Payment

Both are free. DT Manager is funded by advertising and donations. ELDT has no advertising inside the game and is not pay-to-win: there is an optional plan, Supporter, with club identity features and conveniences, but it does not provide players, money or results.

Which one suits you?

If you want a quick career with a real club, without registering or waiting for anyone, DT Manager does the job and is a good way to spend a rainy afternoon. If what you like about being a manager is competing against other people, living through the matchdays and building a club of your own, ELDT is your game. Nothing stops you from having both open: one for the solo career, the other for the league.

Frequently asked questions

Are DT Manager and ELDT the same game?

No. They are two different Argentine football manager games, both free and browser-based. DT Manager is a career mode for playing alone; ELDT is multiplayer, with league fixtures on set matchdays, a cup and a transfer market between people.

Does ELDT have real clubs like DT Manager?

No. ELDT's clubs are fictional, with their own Argentine identity. That allows the game to be free, without licences, and lets every club write its story from scratch.

Do you need an account to play ELDT?

Yes, a free email registration. In return, your game is saved in the cloud, you can continue from any device and your opponents are real people.

How much time does ELDT take each day?

Between 10 and 15 minutes: set your line-up before the match, configure the week's training and check the market. Live matches can be followed as they happen or watched afterwards.

If you are keen to manage against other managers, you can create your club in ELDT in two minutes and play your first match this week.