I have used offside trap with defensive styles and it worked. Some are just guidslines shared by users. They are not a must. In fact, based on experiences, I found some advices and guides shared by others like 'bull****' because the orders they adviced did not make any sense with what was working for me in the game. Briefly, good order combinations can be any in this game (even those that are against logic). It is all about what the game engine has selected to be right orders for you to use in that specific match (I do not know how, maybe some by logic and some random).
I know about the MC and ST problem; it is not something new, but I think there are good and bad players too. For sure, there are ST that performed very well; a big example is my ST itself (lots of goals and assists, more goals than the wingers, and is currently the player of the season so far).