Solonic

Think about what you're trying to achieve. For an underdog you're trying to have solidity and to counter and get the ball up the pitch quickly as you're only going to have 40% possession I'm guessing. Which is fine. You want to get the ball up the pitch quicker so go to a more direct passing style and/or a faster tempo. You might go mid block with no pressing to hit them on the break so your defenders and DM will probably be your ball winners. If you go to a higher line and counterpress / press more you'll get possession back higher up the pitch but are vulnerable to balls over the top, particularly if your CDs lack acceleration, pace, anticipation and positioning. So play to your strengths. I'd typically go 433 for solidity and use the DM to provide extra support for the defence so maybe DM or BWM with good stamina, anticipation and tackling. Central midfield box to box and mezzala is fine. Look at each player individually and use them, If you have a great dribbler then set a PI for him to dribble. If his vision and passing are the best on your team get him to take more risks and longer passes. If passing is weak set a PI to make lower risk passes and shorter passes. Get the ball quickly to the flanks so add instruction to distribute to the full backs. Look at those positions. Do they have excellent stamina, pace, dribbling, passing, crossing? If dribbling and stamina are mediocre they'll lose the ball and get tired quickly. So full backs are safer since they start slightly deeper and will pass to the wingers earlier. And you're an underdog. If you have one with excellent crossing use him. Put him on attack duty and overlap him but ensure the winger is on support or he'll never get there in time. But be aware that overlapping will slow down the pace of the counter attack as the winger waits for him to run up the flank. Maybe focus play down each flank to release early balls to for your main forward and wingers to run onto. Set the centre forward to advanced forward with good pace, acceleration, off the ball, anticipation and finishing. A DLF won't be able to chase balls over the top because he isn't far enough up the pitch. Watch the highlights on comprehensive for a while and look to see what the players are doing as a result of your changes. Your morale will have tanked and morale is critical in the game particularly if your determination levels are mediocre so check player morale. As soon as low determination players go behind in a game their performance deteriorates. Find any and every opportunity to praise players. Check Individual training every week and if 7.5 or more praise them until their ears bleed. Play a friendly or two against a minnow and hopefully score lots of goals then praise any performance at 7.5 and over (do this anyway as a matter of routine). Do pre and post match talks and look for players to respond positively to what you say. I tend to focus on the team rather than the individual in pre match and the individual post match. Use shouts. In match highlights after 20 minutes if 0-0 encourage the whole team, Most players attitude bubble will go from purple to green. If you go behind immediately encourage, if two down encourage. If one up calm down. If two up praise, Rinse and repeat. Try to inspire and motivate in team talks. Chuffed players won't work harder for you, motivated payers will.