He's about the same size as Flamini.

Was Flamini too small?

Sorry, but Denilson is a "volante" (defensive midfielder) and not an Attacking midfielder. He can play with Cesc, and if Diaby doesn't prove his fitness Denilson is the person earmarked to play alongside Cesc...

how curious that you see the need for a big defensive central midfielder to complement fabregas, yet in your own preferred team you have selected nasri next to fab.

Although I do feel that Denilson is a good defensive player he is not "big" Flamini wasn't tall but he was a scrapper if it came to a fight you would pick Flamini every time but to throw a new element into the equation Alex Song could be the answer to the Diaby fitness struggle. Just to clarify my preferred team is based on who is fit to play, hence the lack of Eduardo and Diaby. Sorry for this confusion I shall fix it ASAP

you say denilsons too small and lightweight yet you v picked fabregas and nasri in the middle for your team??????????? nasris hardly a dominant ball winner

see above

Its not a question of size. Its just that Denilson is a nipper rather than a tackler. How many times did we see Flamini flying into a player and fair or foul he would win the ball. Well Denilson is different in that he waits for his moment before taking the ball of an opponent. Maybe he needs more agression in his game, but i dont see his style as a flaw. And in fact I think he complements Cesc a lot better than others, because he still has the skill to initiate attacks better than Flamini, so if Cesc is hanging to deep , Denilson can push forward. I have said many times that AW does not attach special roles to a player, instead he expects the whole team to react to what ever happens on the pitch.

I think Frichie has pretty much hit the nail on the head. The Arsenal play a dynamic and flowing form of football which isn't as fixed as a formation as most teams.

I don't think Denilson is too lightweight or small. Maybe he isn't as aggresive as Flamini but he doesn't need to be as he is more of a technical player with much better passing range and accuracy. FYI he is taller than Flamini.

A Denilson and Fabregas central midfield pairing looks very promising indeed as this will relieve some of the creativity burden from Fabregas who himself has said that he needs to work more defensively as well to become more of a complete midfielder. However, that said, I do think that for the more physical and bruising games where we need to sacrifice a bit of creativity for defensively solidity we should be utilising Diaby, Song or Djourou (whoever is fit out of the trio). Having Nasri and Fabregas in the middle would be suicidal! Nasri is either Fabregas replacement or on either of the wings. I like the idea of Van Persie on the wing and he seems to play brilliant there for his country. I also like the idea of having two 6'4" centre forwards playing together and it was encouraging to see Ade and Bendtner hugging after Ade set up Bendtner's goal.

My first 11 currently would be:

Almunia

Sagna Toure Djourou Clichy

Song

Eboue Fabregas Van Persie

Bendtner Adebayor

Yes I would choose Djourou over Gallas because truth be told he is making far to many errors for both club and country. I would choose Eboue over Walcott for the right wing because Eboue plays well with Sagna and gives us defensive solidity crucial in the early stages of the games. I would sub on Theo for Eboue after 60 mins when opposition is tired, that's when Theo's pace comes into play. Van Persie pisses me off when he plays up front with Ade because he goes missing too often. Perhaps a left wing role would have him see more of the ball where is pace and trickery would suit more. I just regret dropping Nasri in my starting eleven :( Perhaps he could be subbed on later.