Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti insists Fernando Torres must be given time to settle at Stamford Bridge.
Torres, signed for a British record fee of £50m last week, endured a disappointing debut on Sunday as the Blues were beaten 1-0 by his former employers, Liverpool, at Stamford Bridge.
The Spanish World Cup winner was withdrawn shortly after the hour mark and within minutes Raul Meireles struck the Reds’ winner, but Ancelotti has vowed to stand by his attacking trio of Torres, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.
He said: “We have to give Fernando time to adjust to the shape, but I think that he will do it quickly
“We played a fantastic game with this shape at Sunderland and wanted to reproduce that, but Liverpool were strong defensively, put strong pressure in their half, and we were not able to find the solution.
“The problem wasn't that Torres played - he did a good job on the pitch.
“We had difficulty finding enough space in front, because Liverpool defended very well and they put three defenders in the middle, and we didn't find the right way to attack them and were too slow playing from the back.''
He added: “After 60 minutes and a very busy week, it was good for him to come off.
“Fernando has experience, he has confidence and didn't show problems before the game. He was enthusiastic to play, excited, and it didn't show a problem.”