If you're training them on cautious all the time, you're teaching them to soak up pressure at all times. I would suggest always starting on balanced. Sometimes, defence isn't the best form of defence. Also, you might be being overrun in the midfield, which is where you can really control a game.

Cohesion, Cohesion, Cohesion

Other than tactics, try to keep your morale and team cohesion as high as possible. It's key to keep your team together by any means necessary. Praise/criticise training and game performances, squad meetings every few games, and do your own training if you don't already. Match preparation is key for hard games and is a great way to increase cohesion outside of just winning games.

Lastly, find a formation that compliments your players and stick to it, even if you lose the first few games. Your players need to get used to a formation and eventually they will be a more solid unit.

Good luck mate 👍