4-1-2-1-2 Attacking down the middle seems the logical option to me, seems to be the general accepted formation to counter 4-4-2.

I think low condition/morale may have affected the games you described, I'm level 1 with an average quality of about 21 and I lost 3-0 to a bloke with a team of average quality 12, playing 2 players out of position and an inferior formation, purely because I messed up my training schedule and had players at 60/70 condition. :')