I play a Ball-Playing Defender_Cover in my 3-5-2 formation with a flat midfield 5. He operates in the centre of the defensive three with Centre-Backs_Defend either side of him. With that formation I instruct shorter passes and retain possession, with the goalkeeper playing out from the back, so those three defenders will often be knocking the ball around across the back and looking to play short passes wide and into midfield.
Defensively, the BPD will often step forward to challenge for the ball in defensive midfield areas, and when I had the Mexican Diego Reyes in that role, he became the master of the interception as well as being very strong in the air. With him, as with an English regen recruited from Chelsea, it suits a player who can play both D(C) and DM positions and it's beneficial if they are strong in the air, too. I'm sure Mats Hummels fits the bill on both counts.
In possession, the back three spreads across the width of the pitch and without the ball, they cover the flanks quite effectively. You do need Centre-Backs with plenty of pace, though, if you play as high a line as I like to - especially against a skilful No.10 who can play direct passes into the channels to release his forwards. Sometimes the Centre-Back makes the recovery tackle and sometimes he just rushes the forward into taking an early shot that the keeper can deal with if it's on-target.
I have Wide Midfielders_Support on the wings so that I don't leave space in-behind them. My central midfielder is an Advanced Playmaker_Attack with excellent dribbling skills and creativity; he has a Deep-Lying Playmaker_Defend and a Ball-Winning Midfielder_Defend either side of him. The forwards are False-9_Support and Advanced Forward_Attack, with the left-footed AF playing on the left side of the two.
We Exploit The Flanks and, while we play short passes at the Team Instructions level, my central midfielders are instructed to play More Direct Passes so they can switch the play when necessary. Experiment with High Tempo and a High Defensive Line to press and attack more effectively. Switching off the Retain Possession option and telling the players to Be More Expressive can also speed up your attack, although passing accuracy may suffer slightly as a result.
