January 23, 2012 -Fernando Torres's woes continue; Bolton's midfield is key to the club's survival; and Everton are drifting towards danger.

It is becoming impossible to back Torres

Certain players respond best to criticism from their manager. Others need an arm round the shoulder, which is what Fernando Torres got from one of André Villas-Boas's coaches at Carrow Road. The only problem for the Spaniard was that the consoling gesture came as he trudged off the pitch to be replaced by Romelu Lukaku, having endured yet another afternoon of frustration in front of goal and taunts from opposition supporters. Amusement at Torres's struggles is understandable. It comes with the territory when you're signed for £50m, but there remains an inescapable sadness about his current plight.

Here, after all, is a player who could realistically claim to have been the best pure No9 in the world between 2007 and 2009, who terrorised every leading side in the Premier League and countless sides in Europe, not least a devastating destruction of Real Madrid at Anfield in 2009. Defenders found him unplayable in that period; Villas-Boas might be starting to feel that way about him now.

This was supposed to be Torres's moment at Chelsea. With Nicolas Anelka offloaded and Didier Drogba off at the Africa Cup of Nations, the idea was that Torres would be able to relax without the presence of a sulking team-mate on the touchline stalking his mind. The signs were encouraging against Sunderland last week. He claimed an assist of sorts for Frank Lampard's goal when his acrobatic volley thundered back off the bar, and was unlucky not to win at least one penalty in the second half. It seemed to sum up his time at Stamford Bridge.

And there's that word: unlucky. Since his move to Chelsea, there have been too many nearly moments for Torres, no goal that could lift the tension and stop the laughter. On another day, the wonderful poked effort against Norwich in the first half would have bent into the far corner. John Ruddy looked beaten, but somehow flicked the shot past the post. It was an isolated reminder of his undoubted talent though, and there were too many occasions when promising moves foundered at his feet. Early on, he broke behind the Norwich defence, which had failed to keep a clean sheet all season before Chelsea's visit, only for his first touch to let him down and take him away from goal.

Then in the second half, a cross from José Bosingwa came to him in the area. Two years ago, the ball would have flashed past Ruddy in an instant, but on Saturday Torres took a touch, got the ball stuck under his feet and then stabbed a dismal shot wide, immediately bringing to mind his infamous miss against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The memory of how good Torres once was leads to a reluctance to write him off, but he's not making it easy. Some signings make all the sense in the world, which just makes it even more confusing when they don't work out. JS

Bolton need their midfield to keep on firing

As Andy Carroll went through his full repertoire on Saturday – comedy air-swipes, club-footed first touches, flick-ons to no one in particular – David Ngog was giving the perfect exhibition of unselfish forward play for Bolton. The former Liverpool striker held the ball up, brought team-mates into play and was a constant source of irritation to Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel.

None of that suggests that Liverpool would be better off with Ngog up front than the £35m travesty they're currently lumbered with. For all of his good work, Ngog mostly found himself playing with his back to goal and rarely looked like scoring. Indeed he has managed just two goals since he joined Bolton in the summer, which goes some way to explaining why they find themselves in a relegation battle. Last season, Bolton could call upon Daniel Sturridge and Johan Elmander, and though it was clear in the summer that their departures would be troublesome, they have not been adequately replaced.

So it was just as well that, against Liverpool, Bolton's midfield was so effective. Their lead in the first half was established by goals from the excellent Mark Davies and Nigel Reo-Coker, who had both made surging runs from deep, capitalising on the absence of Lucas Leiva for Liverpool. The pair were also on the scoresheet when Bolton won 2-1 at Blackburn in December. Unless Ngog suddenly develops a ruthless streak, Bolton's hopes of survival may rest on their midfield. JS

Other managers should follow Mick McCarthy's honesty

There were 16 minutes left on the clock when Karl Henry thought the best way to show Marc Albrighton the fine stitching on the back of his new boots would be to kick the Aston Villa midfielder so hard in the stomach that it left an imprint that Albrighton could admire in the mirror after the match. At that stage the match was finely balanced at 2-2. Villa were pressing hard and Wolves were losing momentum, they needed their full complement of players on the pitch if they were to take anything but hard lessons from the derby. But Henry's actions left the referee, Michael Oliver, with little option but to send the midfielder off.

The Wolves manager, Mick McCarthy, like every manager in his position, had every right to be furious – the sending-off helped to change the game in Villa'a favour – but not every manager would have reacted like McCarthy did. In the post-match interview most would have dithered between the I-didn't-see-it approach or he's-not-that-type-of-player approach whereas McCarthy openly and correctly criticised Henry's actions. In a Premier League world where managers do their level best to look the other way, issue bland PR-pumped press conferences or defend the indefensible, it is admirable that McCarthy has come out and censured his former captain for his actions rather than passing the blame. If only other managers were like that. Sigh. IMC

Everton are drifting towards danger

For those of you who only discovered football circa 1992-93, here is a quick Everton-themed history lesson. During the 1980s, the Toffees, managed by Howard Kendall, were one of England's biggest and most successful clubs. They won the league in 84-85 and 86-87, came runners-up in between, won the FA Cup and beat Bayern Munich in an incredible semi-final comeback en route to European success in the Cup Winners' Cup.

Yes, that same Everton who, after Saturday's 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers (yes, that Blackburn Rovers), have dropped to just four places above the relegation zone. The result at Goodison Park encapsulates Everton's poor season so far: a solid enough defence but a devastating lack of goals; that their left-back Leighton Baines is their joint top scorer is a damning indictment of players such as Louis Saha, who has been particularly poor – the striker has one league goal this season and did not manage one attempt on goal for his 55 minutes on the pitch against Rovers. The Toffees have won only two league games since the start of December and any hope of the traditional second half of the season surge from Moyes's side seems to be receding faster than a pre-op Wayne Rooney's hairline.

Those hopes will not be helped by a glance at the upcoming fixtures: in their next seven games they face Manchester City, Wigan, Chelsea, Liverpool, QPR, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal – they have lost to all of those sides in the league already this season with the exception of Wigan. It's not panic stations yet – Everton are eight points clear of relegation – but no club is too big to go down. Saturday's result and the subsequent drop should warn those at the club against being complacent about such a possibility. IMC

Balotelli is a peerless penalty-taker

Mario Balotelli, we are told, is the new Eric Cantona. This is fatuous poppycock, but one area in which comparisons are not just legitimate but essential is their penalty-taking. Balotelli may already be the Premier League's finest in this department since Matt Le Tissier retired and his style is almost identical to Cantona's: play "who blinks first" with the keeper, wait for them to move and then pass the ball into the other side of the net. If the keeper waits, he should theoretically have no chance against a penalty struck into the corner. Provided you have the nerve to delay the kick until the last possible moment – and Balotelli certainly does – the plan is close to foolproof.

The Italian's acumen from 12 yards has been apparent for some time; the way in which he dealt with the asphyxiating pressure of a stoppage-time penalty to win a huge match – not so much coping with that pressure as refusing to acknowledge its existence – reinforced the burgeoning perception that we may be dealing with one of the great penalty-takers here.

When Balotelli scored from the spot against Newcastle in November, Roberto Mancini said it was "impossible" for him to miss a penalty. The man himself certainly feels that way. He has even woven his celebration into his follow-through, a kind of subconscious choreography, with his arms starting to spread even before the ball has hit the net. It is a long time since we have seen such certainty from the spot in English football. RS{jcomments on}

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/jan/23/five-things-learned-this-weekend