Services No Longer Required: Liverpool Hands Chelsea 1-0 Defeat In Fernando Torres’s Blues Debut

After an extremely tight beginning to the match, Raul Meireles has scored to give Liverpool FC a 1-0 lead over Chelsea FC. And, more importantly for the neutrals, his goal has opened up the game considerably. Chelsea are now looking much more ambitious going forward for obvious reasons and a fairly dull encounter has turned into an absolute thriller.

A lot of people on twitter are heaping the blame on Petr Cech for his poor goalkeeping on Meireles’ goal, and Matt Dickinson from The Times is no exception:

Fernando Torres in has been substituted off in his debut for Chelsea FC against his old club, Liverpool FC, and the twitterverse has some thoughts on that. However, most of the thoughts going out into the internet world from prominent folks are on other subjects, mainly how Luis Suarez and Florent Malouda need to be introduced into the game. Much to the displeasure of about 80% of the people watching this game, Solomon Kalou is the man who came on for Torres.

Let’s start with some thoughts from The Football Ramble, whose twitter I assume is manned by host Marcus Speller:

In an attempt to fit all of his forwards in the same team in Chelsea FC’s match against Liverpool FC, Carlo Ancelotti has gone with an unorthodox lineup, featuring Nicolas Anelka playing at the top of a midfield diamond, behind Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba. He has not been particularly effective, and some people have been harsh (but probably fair) with their criticism. The Guardian’s excellent Bundesliga correspondent Raphael Honigstein has turned his attention to the Premier League this morning, and he doesn’t think too much of Anelka:

Now in the 36th minute, the match remains 0-0, and although Chelsea has resumed their control of the match, there is now the air of promise surrounding Liverpool.

It’s been a tight affair at Stamford Bridge so far, with both teams struggling to find a breakthrough. I don’t think that anyone will be surprised that it’s been a very tactical encounter with a crowded midfield, but hopefully it gets a little more open sooner rather than later. Still, despite the tight nature of the game, there have been some moments of quality, as footballer Rohan Ricketts points out:

With neither goalkeeper having been tested yet, Chelsea and Liverpool remain 0-0, approaching the 20 minute mark.

Of course, it’s difficult to argue West Ham was, in fact, better given they lost. While they looked the more capable side throughout, they never found a means of executing in the final third. Birmingham did, with Alex McLeish bringing on Larsson in the second half, a substitution that directly impacted the only goal. As a result, Birmingham City climbs to 16th place, the same spot West Ham would have occupied had they gotten a home win against (what was) the league’s 18th placed teams.

While Ba gives West Ham a more physical and athletic option than the veteran Irishman, it does little to change the fundamentals of the match. West Ham has not been able to meaningfully and consistently threaten Birmingham City, and with the Blues having crafted a late, the Hammers will have to hope an ineffective approach can prove more productive as their opponent becomes more conservative.

Early, a shot from Ba showed this may happen, the attacker’s shot nailing the right upright. But although West Ham is playing with more energy and intent, they still haven’t found a proven way to break the Blues.

With set piece converted in the 66th minute, Birmingham City has taken a 1-0 lead, a mistake from Wayne Bridge canceling-out an hour’s worth of progress from the Hammers.

Now in the 52nd minute, the match is still 0-0, with West Ham continuing to look the slightly more capable side.

At halftime, the score is 0-0, with the goalkeepers proven irrelevant. West Ham, thanks to the work for their midfield, look the more capable side, but neither team is creating meaningful chances. Each manager should look to make tactical changes at intermission.

As “stay up, Victor” racking in from the West Ham bench, instructions for West Ham’s left sided attacker who seems to be unwittingly shifting the Hammers into a 4-4-2, you realize the most interesting part of this match are the teams’ shapes. And those aren’t interesting at all, but when the crowd is so quiet that you can hear the sideline’s adjustments, the formations become to protagonists.

SB Nation Soccer will have live updates throughout the English Premier League Saturday, starting in moments with the match from Upton Park.