I think it's worth clearing up the confusion, "Force counter attacks" means that you are the one doing the counter attacking.

It makes your team sit back and the other team comes forward, then when your team wins the ball it quickly passes it up field while they are still running back. This is why you need to use mixed or long passing, so as to play long balls to your players who are already in advanced positions, or who are running there. You also need players with good speed up front for long balls to work.

The reason it isn't good when your opponent has defensive midfielders is that they will stay back and be able to deal with your counter attack.