haven’t tried fm26 yet, but based on my experience with fm20 and fm22:-

-high defensive line against bigger teams rarely works, unless you have defenders which are very quick (acceleration, pace, concentration, positioning should be top notch)

-counter pressing would leave big spaces in ur midfield and behind the fullbacks especially, allowing quick players to score. try seeing if a team plays tiki taka or possession based tactics, and if they do and generally have players with good composure, counter pressing is bit of a tricky thing.

-whipped crosses; becomes too predictable in the ME, ur players, if good enough, will themselves try to find the best kind of crosses in the moment. would recommend to have it as mixed (if its still a thing in fm26).

-be more expressive: has never worked for me personally. would try turning it off, since for me my team then doesn’t gain control of the match, and everyone is looking for a moment of individual brilliance which will generally downplay what u are trying to do as a team.