It was a 3-4-3 formation that Arsenal played when Arteta first arrived and was used on the way to Arsenal winning the FA Cup in 2020.
It is a sign of how quickly football can change that Arsenal beat Manchester City 5-1 at the start of this month with five goals from open play - and now Arteta is using Riccardo Calafiori as a striker.
Arsenal have failed to score in back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since May 2023 after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham was followed up by a 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
He may also hope that Arsenal’s next four opponents - Chelsea, Manchester United and PSV twice - do not sit deep in a low block like Forest and West Ham.
That was Arteta’s latest experiment on Wednesday at Forest, with Calafiori pushing forward from left-back when Arsenal had the ball to join Merino.
