Ben Marshall

Ben Marshall has had a lot of praise on here - and no wonder. 4 assists from the last two games is a terrific stat - are you looking JJ? But I'm writing this to say I'm not happy with his contribution!!!
Oh sure, when he has the ball he can do something useful - get in a good cross or a good corner. But when he doesn't have the ball he must be one of the worst players I've ever seen. He almost literally walks through the game. When he needs to defend he doesn't track back and, worse, when we need to attack he just stands around waiting to be given the ball. He only runs when someone gives him the ball! This was epitomised towards the end of the Exeter game. We had a break on. COG was carrying the ball and both he and the other forward (probably Ryan Lowe by then) had occupied all their defenders on the right of the pitch. There was a massive space down the left. Anyone running into that space would have had half the pitch to themselves. Where was Marshall? WALKING past the halfway line.
The formation we play has two midfielders told to sit deep and protect the back 4. Loads of clubs do this nowadays but it requires that the two wide players get involved supporting the strikers otherwise they are left isolated. But Marshall just stands around and only joins in when he has to. This is what is making us look rubbish most of the time - there's no link between front and midfield and I'm blaming Marshall. Yes, he's got talent and can cross a ball but until he learns that football is a team game that involves finding space when we have the ball and filling holes when we don't I really can't see him being successful except at mid-table League One level. When JJ comes back, I'm hoping we play JJ and Lines as the two wide midfielders and drop Marshall.
There, that should stir some controversy.