In my Torino game in Serie B, I get domination over that with a 4-4-2. The left back is an attacking wingback and the right a defending fullback, covering ball playing defender, stopper central defender, two wingers, attacking advanced playmaker, supportive central midfielder, attacking wingers, deep laying forward and poacher. As shouts, I tell my team to exploit the flanks and more often than not to play narrower, at times to drop deeper to encourage the striker to go further away from his midfield. Some times also to look for overlap, if the rival is weaker.
During the attack phase, the ball is, as requested, played mostly in the flanks, the rightback offering as a recycling option, the leftback coming up to join the attack and giving the left winger an option to cut inside. The winger in the other side than the ball uses to go to the middle and be thereabouts to head a cross in the net and the midfielders run up the pitch first the advanced playmaker and, if the opponent is getting his men back, the other central midfielder goes up, so that gives me plenty of men up to look for the crosses or to receive a pass from the flank to cut the defense with a through ball.
In defence the deep forward (usually Antenucci, sometimes Bianchi) drops to mark their DMC and my MCs take their MCs (maybe helps that my AP-A is De Feudis, who has 'drops deep to receive the ball') and cover in front of the defence, so at the back my two CBs have just the ST for them, so I have the extra man needed to give solidity to my defence. Some times the opposition's wingers do some menacing counterattacks, but I'm yet to concede, and some times they're kept deep in the other half by the fullbacks pushing forward.
Add Torino is apparently a patient side (I also use to play in standard, fluid, default creative freedom, zonal marking) and even the 4-5-1 of weaker opposition seeking to frustrate my players don't manage to force my team into hurried shots from long distance. On the contrary, the danger with those seems to be taking too much time trying to work a chance that the ball is lost before trying it.
I've dominated over all variants of 4-5-1: 4-2-3-1, 4-2-1-2-1, 4-1-2-2-1, 4-3-2-1 It must have been something like seven wins, two draws and one loss, the latter in a time of tiredness of the squad.
Then again, Torino is one of the favourites in Serie B.