As far as i know you can play a player out of position and he will play just not as effectively, his form and moral may drop, as he would if he were correctly positioned...it's kind of a known issue with the game...

On another note...you can't just expect to beat a team just because of a minor difference in quality...it happens regularly in T11 as it does in real life...i lose occasionally to a lower quality team and see it as merely a part of the game...

Better luck in the future ...