A few seasons back Arsenal moved away from the 4-4-2 formation, after experiencing limited success with the lightweight Fabregas and Flamini occupying the two central defensive midfield roles. To accommodate the growing number of less physical but highly technical central attacking midfielders in the squad at the time, Arsenal appeared to change their formation to a 4-1-3-2 setup. In that particular season, Flamini took on the lone central defensive midfield role with Rosicky (left), Fabregas (central) and Hleb (right) operating in central