Ok, today I almost got ripped by a guy 12% weaker than me.
4-4-2 against my 4-3w-2w-1.
I started with normal/mixed/off everything except counter-attacks. % of completed passes was good after 10-15', so I switched to Long. Statistics at that point was slightly at my advance, but he scored with his 1st attack, and everything has changed.
I suspect he used high pressing and definitely short passes.
I switched off counters (AM told me they don't work), and set High pressing. No visible result.
At the start of the 2nd half he already had better statistics than me, except possession. I returned to low pressing, but set m2m instead, and also Short passes. I managed to score closer to the end of the game, and statistics was again slightly in my favour.
I suspected before that High pressing works good against Long passes, and m2m against Short, and I think it's true. I am not 100% sure, of course.