(This post assumes the addition of Pirlo.)
A holding midfielder or deep-lying midfielder is NOT the same as a defensive midfielder. I wish Pirlo could play both roles, but my understanding is he doesn't provide much defensively, and definitely isn't mobile enough to help cover the backline by himself.
I also think people around here continue to underestimate the importance of Jacobson's role on the team so far. I'm not talking about amazing play from him, but merely the fact that Kreis literally has him playing deep enough to be classified as a 3rd CB. Unless our defense substantially improves, I don't think his role is going away, especially if we commit Calle to LB when healthy again, who will run forward a lot.
So starting there, I think we'll keep with our back four plus Jacobson in a defensive midfield role.
Next comes Pirlo and Lampard. Neither are mobile at this stage of their careers, so they will both play centrally and need runners around them. Lampard plays a bit better around the box that Pirlo does, so he could play above him if they're not on the same line.
(Side note: Best thing about the potential addition of Pirlo is that it frees Mix from the reserved or central midfield roles, which have really been dulling his impact.)
Last, we have three spots to fill out the attack. I think tactically, as
Kjbert pointed out, we have learned that Villa is absolutely NOT a target man. He can play as a winger, a 10, or a secondary striker, but not up top by himself. This means that Nemec or Mullins needs to be on the field as the target man or holding striker. Nemec is like the Jacobson of the offense - he's not great, but his role is necessary and he's the best on the squad at it. The final spot in the lineup goes to Mix in a position to make runs for the midfield.
Formation on paper matters less than the roles described above, but you could write it down a couple of different ways:
4-2-2-2
Code:
---------------Villa--------Nemec---------------
------------------------------------------------
----------Mix--------------------Lampard--------
------------------------------------------------
---------------Pirlo------Jacobson--------------
------------------------------------------------
---Calle-------------------------------Brovsky--
--------------Wingert-----Hernandez-------------
4-2-3-1
Code:
---------------------Nemec----------------------
------------------------------------------------
------Villa---------Lampard----------Mix--------
------------------------------------------------
---------------Pirlo------Jacobson--------------
------------------------------------------------
---Calle-------------------------------Brovsky--
--------------Wingert-----Hernandez-------------
4-1-4-1
Code:
---------------------Nemec----------------------
------------------------------------------------
---Villa---------------------------------Mix----
--------------Lampard-------Pirlo---------------
------------------------------------------------
--------------------Jacobson--------------------
------------------------------------------------
---Calle-------------------------------Brovsky--
--------------Wingert-----Hernandez-------------
I personally like the 4-1-4-1 best, but again it doesn't matter much. All three of these formations allow our players to play the roles I described above.
As a last comment, looking at that formation I think it's very easy to identify our remaining needs. Jacobson, Wingert, Brovsky, and Nemec could all use upgrades. Kreis recently said they are looking to bring "a couple" people in this summer, I'm going to set their satisfactory targets at a DP3 (hopefully Pirlo) and replacing two of these other four weak spots.
