LONDON -- Fulham manager Álvaro Arbeloa took heart from his side's performance in the 3-2 defeat to Chelsea and said it typified the character he wants to see from his players this season.
Monday night's clash between the two west London sides was a battle between former Real Madrid managers, with Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa making their managerial debuts in the Premier League.
Chelsea raced into a lead within 31 seconds through João Pedro, but Fulham saw out the early onslaught and fought back to equalise through Josh King.
Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer's goal either side of the break put Chelsea in command, but Gonzalo García near the hour-mark set up a frenetic final half-hour at an electric Craven Cottage.
The hosts racked up 14 shots and ranked higher than Chelsea for forward passes, successful final third passes and possession, but it wasn't enough to find an equaliser.
"I think we keep improving and that will take time. But it's the first game of the season and I have been seeing all the games in the Premier League and you can feel that no one is ready," Arbeloa said.
"But I saw tonight the energy that I want to see, the high press that we want to make. And like I said to my players, we are going to play in this way and we're going to try to play in this way no matter who is in front of us.
"So that's not easy because we are going to face very good teams with very top players, but we are going to try for sure. And we need to play with that character and that ambition and that energy that is very important for us that we fight from the first minute until last."
King and García typified Fulham's front footed approach and Arbeloa, unprompted, lavished praise on the 19-year-old academy graduate.
- Premier League manager changes: Xabi Alonso, Andoni Iraola, more - and their biggest challenges
- Chelsea's Premier League opener under Xabi Alonso hints at fun season to come
- Premier League recap: Chelsea beat Fulham in five-goal thriller
"I have been talking all summer with Josh King. What a player you have here. Amazing. What a player. Unbelievable. But I knew his talent, but with talent and with quality for this type of player, it's not enough," he said.
"They need to make numbers like Gonzalo or like Oscar [Bobb] or like César [Palacios] or Kevin. We have very young players with a lot of talent, but they need to score goals because at the end it's the most important thing in football and I hope they can score many goals this season."