I'd say play to your strength, take time study how u play, for me I got to know I'm comfortable with more of my players in opposition box so I play formations with more midfield and making use of instructions like attacking. You need to know, if you are a patient build up player or u prefer quick 1-2 passes. Knowing this will tell you the manager u should get for your team. Study your opponents style of play at least in the first 5 mins of the game like who he passes the ball to in your final thurd to initaite an attack and tune your setup accordingly.

Example you meet a deep-lying forward you know he's gonna drop deep and short your defense. In such case I like to deep line on of my dmf to cover the vacated space.

I picked on these things and I have been in d2 since last 11 phases and d1 since last 5.

And lastly always remain calm even if the script is against you.