1. 4-1-4-1 was probably not the best formation against that, not sure what you ended up using
2. do not use one on one marking unless you have a superior team
3. 10 million people HAVE played this game, but there is a lot less that currently play it
4. There is currently 3000 managers who are active (according to forum statistics)
5. Finally, 2.5 hours is not enough time for a significant amount of forum members to help you

Give us more heads up and the forum members would love to help you. You can also look at previous threads that include counter formations against the formation you are going up against.
http://forum.topeleven.com/formation...ation-use.html