The game engine is fairly simple, so yes there are a few little quirks like this i.e. penalty for OOP is shown as ball possession rather than, for example, territory. It may impact other things that we don't get to see of course

It's a bit frustrating when you lose those games. I have tended to go hard attacking and all pitch pressing to maximise my advantage. But if he's playing hard defence and forced counters, you might get caught out

Also, I do think most players can play in a few positions, even if not quite as well as their preferred one e.g Terry would make a decent centre forward, he scores a fair few as it is. Scholes would be a crap keeper though :-)