In theory, the number of available attackers shouldn’t have been a problem. There were 2 good options for LW (Martinelli and Trossard), 2 at CF (Havertz and Gabriel Jesus), 2 at RW (Saka and Sterling) and some youth trying to break into the team (Nwaneri). Maybe there should have been one additional body in the attacking third just in case. But one alternate for every position is normally a decent amount. CL squads are limited to 25 players, and 1 backup at every position brings you to 22 already.

The real issue is that we had a series of injury crises, and that Sterling turned out to be incredibly poor. I think the situation in August was reasonable. But, by January the injury crisis was in full swing and we’d discovered just how poor Sterling was. A signing in January might have made all the difference. Even if it had been a player who was clearly not first choice in any forward position, if it were a player who was good enough to close out a game, or good enough to play against a team facing relegation, it could have been a way to rest other players.

What sucks about this game is that PSG shows that there were options in January. Who would be in the final if Arsenal had signed Kvaratskhelia instead of PSG?