The debut that wasn't at Stamford bridge

On the day in which illustrious striker Fernando Torres made his debut for Chelsea, the Blues fell to Liverpool 1-0 due to a return to flat offensive play and a helping of terrible game-changing calls by referee Andre Marriner.

                                                        image courtesy CNN

Chelsea did not play well enough to win this one. I know most of the headlines will be about how Fernando Torres is a waste of 50 million pounds but the truth is the play that forced Chelsea out of first returned today. Defensively, they were fine. A few plays found confusion between Petr Cech and his fellow defenders but Chelsea, on the whole proved once again why they have one of the best back fours in the country. It was, in fact, the defenders who seemed to be some of the only players getting touches in the games, and although they were solid touches, that is never a good statement to make. The late addition of new transfer David Luiz was a redeeming factor in this one, as the Brazilian defender made several key "John Terry"-like stops to keep Chelsea in the game.

It was the offense, the ability to create real breathtaking chances, the life of the team that was missing. I won't sit here and try to make any grand season-spanning remarks about what this might mean for Chelsea, although it was a great opportunity to gain ground on 'United'. But all I can say is this game did worry me for the two crucial games that my boys have against Man U later this season. If Chelsea cannot  penetrate their opponents' outer defense more effectively, the title will not be theirs this season. Torres can act as a great weapon if this team can either move more quickly in creating fast-break chances or find ways to get better long-range balls into the box. Perhaps David Luiz will help in this regard? On the whole, it was a disappointing start to Fernando Torres's career in a blue shirt. But as Efan Ekoku said in the broadcast, "Rome wasn't built in a day." For now, we'll have to accept that as we wait to see how Torres will develop on the team.

Now, on to the refs. I'm not going to be ridiculous and blame this loss on referee Andre Marriner because a team cannot rely on getting pushed down in the box for their goals. But that being said, if we are going to have rules that grant a penalty kick after handballs and fouls in the penalty box, as we should, then we need somebody out of the four referees to see what happens and make a proper call! Chelsea should have had two penalties in this one. First, a ball went cleanly off the outstretched wrist of Lucas inside the chalk making way not only for the absence of a Chelsea penalty, but also the end of a Blues' run leading to a Liverpool breakaway. Next, maybe the more obvious of the two came as Glen Johnson slammed Branislav Ivanovic to the ground. Am I exaggerating either of these instances? Absolutely not. Were they both penalties? Without question! Complaining about referees gets nobody anywhere, but it does make an angered fan feel a bit better about himself. And please referees, in the future, do not miss possible season-altering calls and then act as all refs do like you made a perfect decision. Many times, you did not.

The aforementioned things being said, I don't think either team really deserved to win this one but Liverpool were the better defensive side in a defensive game. Once they get Suarez and Carrol to start regularly, that defense could compliment beautifully with high-octane goalscoring and maybe a return for Liverpool to the Champions League. So, in an effort to not be too bitter about the result, I give Liverpool credit and have the right mind to say they are a team that I doubt anyone really wants to take on at the moment. As for Chelsea, a return to that mindset may still be well off.

On a side note, what's the deal with Kenny Daglish eating pieces of clothing?