Chelsea manager Frank Lampard believes his players should be happy with their effort despite a 2-0 loss to Liverpool.
The Blues had been hoping to lay down a marker in the second game of the Premier League season.
But they succumbed to the same problems of last season, failing to defend properly and committing individual errors.
Andreas Christensen was sent off late in the first half, while goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga committed a howler to let Sadio Mane score.
"There were a lot of things I was happy about with our defensive game," said Lampard post-game.
"I wanted us to be better on the ball. We showed moments on the counter-attack where we were dangerous, Timo [Werner] had a couple of good opportunities but to limit them to the chances they got in the first half, there were a lot of things I was pleased about.
"I'm disappointed to lose three points as you always will and should be but I'm actually happier today in many ways than I was at Brighton. I saw spirit, desire to defend by a lot of our defenders – Reece James, Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori when he came on.
"The midfield were giving everything to block gaps and you play half a game with 10 men, you don't make that mistake for the second goal, you score the penalty - then it's 1-1. I know that's not football and I can't reflect on that but those are the realities. The players should take heart, it's how we go forward from here now."
