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{ I can?t look: John Terry fails to prevent Raul Meireles from scoring the winner at the Bridge yesterday
The arrival of a big-money striker is usually the catalyst for a revival of fortunes or the final weapon to help shoot for the stars but Fernando Torres presents Carlo Ancelotti with a conundrum that may cost him his job.

Of course, integrating a ?50million signing into a squad defending the Double is a problem most managers would relish tackling and Torres's proven pedigree enhances the likelihood of a successful career at Chelsea.

But the Spaniard will need time and that is the one commodity Ancelotti does not have, with the Blues harbouring only the faintest Premier League title hopes after this tame surrender to Kenny Dalglish's resurgent Liverpool.

Ancelotti is under exorbitant pressure to deliver the Champions League for an owner who believes he has bought the perfect tool to achieve that goal; ultimately, Torres is more important to Roman Abramovich than Ancelotti is and if the Italian cannot get his new No9 firing soon, his tenure is unlikely to last beyond the summer.

In reverting to the 4-4-2 diamond formation he favoured upon taking charge at Chelsea - but subsequently abandoned for the players' preferred 4-3-3 system - the Blues suffered from a disastrous lack of width which channelled their attacks into Liverpool's strongest areas.

Dalglish's deployment of three centre-backs perfectly nullified Nicolas Anelka, playing at the top of the diamond, while rendering Frank Lampard and Michael Essien ineffective as a lack of wide options forced the midfield pair to attempt to navigate paths through the most congested area of the pitch.

Full-backs Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa were under heavy pressure to provide width but were incapable of balancing such demands with their defensive duties - Torres' debut was disastrous but the blame cannot solely lie with the 26-year-old.

Spending ?50m has bought Chelsea a striker but not a supply line and Ancelotti's task is to best facilitate one of the finest finishers in the game with the ammunition to succeed.

One game is not enough to judge their long-term compatibility but Torres, Didier Drogba and Anelka in the same side appears a difficult blend to manage.

Torres and Drogba are used to both leading the line and, as such, are the focal point of the attack, while Anelka has previously adapted well to a position on the right of a front three, yet that compromise has come at the price of a diminished goal return.

Anelka does not appear suited to a position in 'the hole' behind the main strikers - nor does is make use of his considerable pace - while Lampard is at once relegated to a more defensive role; his goalscoring impact was reduced significantly when Ancelotti first adopted the diamond formation.

With Champions League success the priority, Chelsea have a degree of breathing space to attempt the alchemy given the limited threat FC Copenhagen pose in their last-16 clash but the evidence presented in their defeat by Liverpool suggests much work is needed.

Victory was achieved at Sunderland with the same system but the introduction of Torres combined with a resolute and well-organised opposition proved too much, whatever Ancelotti argues to the contrary.

"The problem wasn't that Torres played - he did a good job on the pitch," said the Chelsea manager. "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.

"We have to work in training to combine with the other strikers but that's normal. The problem was not putting these players together. These players have a lot of quality - I have to try to use them together and I'll try everything to put them together."

Perhaps the irony of this result is that Dalglish is now arguably more likely to be in his current job next season than Ancelotti; King Kenny punctuated his team's admirable display with no less than 11 separate waves to the visiting supporters, who barely knew where to direct their joy first.

Torres scored on his Liverpool debut against Chelsea but only twice threatened a reverse - Maxi Rodriquez gifted possession after just two minutes but he fired wastefully over before a superb block from Jamie Carragher denied Torres after his only meaningful link-up with Drogba all afternoon.

Maxi missed the best chance of the first half, hitting the crossbar from three yards out, before Petr Cech and Branislav Ivanovic argued furiously after a miscommunication in dealing with Martin Kelly's cross.

Whatever they said, the lesson went unheeded as Liverpool's winning goal owed a lot to another misunderstanding between the pair.

Cole had been caught upfield and Steven Gerrard exploited the space to deliver an innocuous-looking cross. Cech and Ivanovic left it to each other, enabling Raul Meireles to execute a smart volleyed finish.

Torres had departed three minutes earlier and could only watch on as Chelsea alarmingly failed to rally in his absence. Given the sense of occasion and the boost ?71m of new faces must have provided to the squad, there was a startling lack of riposte to adversity.

Glen Johnson was fortunate not to concede a stoppage-time penalty for barging Ivanovic but the repetitive spot-kick appeals smacked of a side that had run out of ideas. Almost unnoticed amid the frustration was David Luiz's promising 17-minute debut in which he made a couple of decent interceptions but overall Ancelotti was left perplexed by a performance that failed to capitalise on Manchester United's first League defeat of the season.

"We're disappointed for this reason because we had an opportunity to close the gap but now we're still the same distance," he said.

"We have to keep going. We have to try to fight again for the title."

That fight will continue at Fulham a week tonight, when Ancelotti insists he will use the same system again and better will be expected from their new star man. But time is of the essence for Ancelotti, not Torres.

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