Marvin ( Act 2)

M

Middxile

Well-known member
Marvin had a blinder yesterday, but he soiled his pants again by playing in the opposition with a under hit back pass. He had the usual time to spare and change his mind a couple of times, and he seems to do it in every game. They didn’t ought to give it to him, or perhaps his midfield players are static in front of him.
 
Best defender at the club for positional play, pace, tackling, blocking and heading but he is the worst bringing it out of defence. That can be rectified, he has to be one of the first names on the team sheet for me and he could easily move to the right side of the back 3 and in fact Critch moved him to the left side second half yesterday. They may well have scored from his back pass but they didn't but they could have scored 2 or 3 but for his brilliant, brave defending. With Pennington, Casey, Hubby and Connolly and Thame we have enough decent central defenders to play in a back 3.
 
Seasiderblock said:
My views on Marvin
Great defender in the tackle in blocking and in the air
Should never be given the ball by one of his team mates
Click to expand...
Why do people keep saying don't give him the ball? He's in the centre of the pitch, we're trying to build attacks and switch play, draw teams out and move around them, to do that you need all the cogs working, any weak link significantly reduces the effectiveness of the team. The defender playing centrally is often the key player on setting attacks going and involved in spreading play to both sides.

It'll be like playing with 10 men for them not to have the ball.
 
Last edited:
JJpool said:
Why do people keep saying don't give him the ball? He's in the centre of the pitch, we're trying to build attacks and switch play, draw teams out and move around them, to do that you need all the cogs working, any weak link significantly reduces the effectiveness of the team. The defender playing centrally is often the key player on setting attacks going and involved in spreading play to both sides.

It'll be like playing with 10 men for them not be have the ball.
Click to expand...
It's an area for the coaches to work on, and an aspect to his play that he needs to improve. I'm sure the coaches know it, Marvin knows it, and as people say, every other part of his game is solid. I think he made less mistakes in the championship, when he had less time to decide how to play it.
 
tangible said:
It's an area for the coaches to work on, and an aspect to his play that he needs to improve. I'm sure the coaches know it, Marvin knows it, and as people say, every other part of his game is solid. I think he made less mistakes in the championship, when he had less time to decide how to play it.
Click to expand...
Exactly that, he needs to play it quickly. The more time he has to dwell on his next move, the worse the pass is.
 
tangible said:
It's an area for the coaches to work on, and an aspect to his play that he needs to improve. I'm sure the coaches know it, Marvin knows it, and as people say, every other part of his game is solid. I think he made less mistakes in the championship, when he had less time to decide how to play it.
Click to expand...
Not a cat in hells chance he will improve.
Had 3 full seasons with us & if given time on the ball it really is heart in the mouth time. Just shouldn't play in that centre of three. Played on the right he can receive & either ball to RWB or back inside to Pennington or Casey. At present he dwells & often selects the wrong pass to a colleague under pressure who's only option is to give it back to Marv & 🙈 time again.
I honestly don't think he's particularly dominant in the air considering his height. Often comes off the top of his head. I know I sound over critical coz he's a great defender in an old school way.
 
tangible said:
It's an area for the coaches to work on, and an aspect to his play that he needs to improve. I'm sure the coaches know it, Marvin knows it, and as people say, every other part of his game is solid. I think he made less mistakes in the championship, when he had less time to decide how to play it.
Click to expand...
He's been with us a number of years now, worked under Critchley and a variety of other coaches and no sign of any improvement in that area yet...
 
Willie Mcgrotty said:
Not a cat in hells chance he will improve.
Had 3 full seasons with us & if given time on the ball it really is heart in the mouth time. Just shouldn't play in that centre of three. Played on the right he can receive & either ball to RWB or back inside to Pennington or Casey. At present he dwells & often selects the wrong pass to a colleague under pressure who's only option is to give it back to Marv & 🙈 time again.
I honestly don't think he's particularly dominant in the air considering his height. Often comes off the top of his head. I know I sound over critical coz he's a great defender in an old school way.
Click to expand...
yep, i agree with you. You're being overly critical.
 
JJpool said:
Why do people keep saying don't give him the ball? He's in the centre of the pitch, we're trying to build attacks and switch play, draw teams out and move around them, to do that you need all the cogs working, any weak link significantly reduces the effectiveness of the team. The defender playing centrally is often the key player on setting attacks going and involved in spreading play to both sides.

It'll be like playing with 10 men for them not be have the ball.
Click to expand...

He needs easy options, Norborn should be within a few yards of him when he gets the ball. If Norborn loses it, Marv tackles.
 
southshore said:
He needs easy options, Norborn should be within a few yards of him when he gets the ball. If Norborn loses it, Marv tackles.
Click to expand...
He has some at times, but also there's going to be a point where the responsibility falls to different players to find a pass, he will inevitably be one, currently he's looked lost and under pressure when it is him.
 
JJpool said:
Why do people keep saying don't give him the ball? He's in the centre of the pitch, we're trying to build attacks and switch play, draw teams out and move around them, to do that you need all the cogs working, any weak link significantly reduces the effectiveness of the team. The defender playing centrally is often the key player on setting attacks going and involved in spreading play to both sides.

It'll be like playing with 10 men for them not be have the ball.
Click to expand...
It’s like playing against 12 when he keeps giving the opposition the ball. I don’t think he can’t play out well, he’s just slow in making a decision who to play it to and gets robbed. He who hesitates is lost.
 
Scares me every time he is given the ball ,but surely if we can all see this ,so must the coaching staff. They need to take him to one side and make him practise his decision making and make him get rid of it quicker.
 
southshore said:
He needs easy options, Norborn should be within a few yards of him when he gets the ball. If Norborn loses it, Marv tackles.
Click to expand...
Exactly this! He needs a default, minimise any thinking/decision making. You get the ball you give it to A or B. If they're not in a position to receive it go back to Grimmy.

As others have said, he's a belting defender but it's a part of his game that's unlikely to improve.
 
There has to be movement in front of him, particularly with a team that is pressing. If there isn't a great deal of movement like yesterday in the second half then he will have problems
 
I am still plesed when Marv is on the teamsheet. I think his problems happen when he overthinks things and delays his pass. There were also one or two moments when the field of play looked so open and you just wish he would have the confidence to go on a mazy Evatt like run into enemy territory. He is very cautious at the moment. He saved us at least twice but did make sure that Norburn had a chance to practice his sprint and block for which I am sure our captain was grateful.
 
southshore said:
He needs easy options, Norborn should be within a few yards of him when he gets the ball. If Norborn loses it, Marv tackles.
Click to expand...

Norburn was! I thought the same about Norburn, so I rewatched it and if you look, Norburn is square of him, not in front of him. He then goes for wander away from Norburn and he ends up running kind of from the side, almost deeper than where Marv lost the ball, rather than tracking back from ahead of him.
 
Agree that Marv is a top defender but he's a luxury we can't afford. He needs to work on his distribution I'm afraid with Critch helping him, one would hope. We have other accomplished defenders at the Club, so he shouldn't be an automatic selection at all. At the moment I would put Pennington, Casey and Husband on the team sheet before him.
 
Murciaseasider said:
Agree that Marv is a top defender but he's a luxury we can't afford. He needs to work on his distribution I'm afraid with Critch helping him, one would hope. We have other accomplished defenders at the Club, so he shouldn't be an automatic selection at all. At the moment I would put Pennington, Casey and Husband on the team sheet before him.
Click to expand...
He's the best defender at the club by a country mile and this luxury we can't afford has not cost us a single point this season. In fact he's part of a defence that hasn't conceded a goal! Some of you want to pick up on one mistake but then forget about the rest of the great defending he does during every game.
 
20togo said:
He's the best defender at the club by a country mile and this luxury we can't afford has not cost us a single point this season. In fact he's part of a defence that hasn't conceded a goal! Some of you want to pick up on one mistake but then forget about the rest of the great defending he does during every game.
Click to expand...
Sorry but he's made mistakes in consecutive games now - this isn't knee jerk. If we didn't have a strong squad of defenders, we would have to live with it, but we have and action should be taken now. Nobody is saying that he isn't a top defender - he is, but he has an achilles heel which will cost us at some point if nothing is done. Critch is there to support him and work with him, and who knows it might soon be an aspect of his game that is addressed and goes away. But, you don't wait for something to happen when you know there's a problem.
 
I did not have Marv as being this seasons scapegoat.

With that said, not surprised the OP thinks our best players deserve criticising week in week out. Has form for it.

I think it's what some have to do to get their opinion heard on here, especially when they don't actually watch games.
 
Murciaseasider said:
Sorry but he's made mistakes in consecutive games now - this isn't knee jerk. If we didn't have a strong squad of defenders, we would have to live with it, but we have and action should be taken now. Nobody is saying that he isn't a top defender - he is, but he has an achilles heel which will cost us at some point if nothing is done. Critch is there to support him and work with him, and who knows it might soon be an aspect of his game that is addressed and goes away. But, you don't wait for something to happen when you know there's a problem.
Click to expand...
A player who never makes mistakes does not exist,never has and never will. Those that make the fewest are playing at the top level not league 1. Marv saves us many more times than he drops us in it. First name on the teamsheet.
 
20togo said:
He's the best defender at the club by a country mile and this luxury we can't afford has not cost us a single point this season. In fact he's part of a defence that hasn't conceded a goal! Some of you want to pick up on one mistake but then forget about the rest of the great defending he does during every game.
Click to expand...
But he is also consistently creating the oppositions best chance of the game! Luckily they haven't taken them, but that's due to poor finishing rather than our defending.
 
20togo said:
He's the best defender at the club by a country mile and this luxury we can't afford has not cost us a single point this season. In fact he's part of a defence that hasn't conceded a goal! Some of you want to pick up on one mistake but then forget about the rest of the great defending he does during every game.
Click to expand...
But when that 'one mistake' you refer to invariably relates to a passage of play which has the potential for us conceding a goal unecessarily, are you saying this is a flaw we can afford to overlook? No one is denying the qualities Marv has in abundance, but when a (major) flaw is becoming a regular feature of his game and is presenting a gift-wrapped opportunity in matches for your opponents to go ahead and score, how can this possibly be ignored? I mean, how much longer should we be giving the backroom to rectify this 'problem' before giving it up as a 'bad job'?

If Marv being given the ball is giving fans the 'jitters', I can only think what affect it is having on his long-suffering team-mates. So, for how much longer do we have to tolerate this unhappy state of affairs? Incredibly, and judging by your comments, 20togo, I'm almost inclined to say you personally believe indefinitely ...

Time to get real, me thinks, and for meaningful changes to be made.
 
tarantula said:
But when that 'one mistake' you refer to invariably relates to a passage of play which has the potential for us conceding a goal unecessarily, are you saying this is a flaw we can afford to overlook? No one is denying the qualities Marv has in abundance, but when a (major) flaw is becoming a regular feature of his game and is presenting a gift-wrapped opportunity in matches for your opponents to go ahead and score, how can this possibly be ignored? I mean, how much longer should we be giving the backroom to rectify this 'problem' before giving it up as a 'bad job'?

If Marv being given the ball is giving fans the 'jitters', I can only think what affect it is having on his long-suffering team-mates. So, for how much longer do we have to tolerate this unhappy state of affairs? Incredibly, and judging by your comments, 20togo, I'm almost inclined to say you personally believe indefinitely ...

Time to get real, me thinks, and for meaningful changes to be made.
Click to expand...
the problem with you and others who want to make Marv a scapegoat and make no mistake that is what you are doing, is that you don't think Marv or Critch are working on his game to try and cut out these unforced errors. And of course you all want to overlook the great defending and covering that he does in the rest of the game. You saying you are not denying his qualities but really you're admitting they mean nothing to you because you prefer to solely focus on the mistake he is making. And your total bias against him is shown by the ridiculous comment of " long suffering team mates". Really? It's as if you're implying they should all be running to Critch saying please drop Marv. Sorry, but that's a pathetic comment from you.

Simple question, Did Virtues bad miss cost us three points on saturday? Should we focus on that?
 
Last edited:
Murciaseasider said:
Sorry but he's made mistakes in consecutive games now - this isn't knee jerk. If we didn't have a strong squad of defenders, we would have to live with it, but we have and action should be taken now. Nobody is saying that he isn't a top defender - he is, but he has an achilles heel which will cost us at some point if nothing is done. Critch is there to support him and work with him, and who knows it might soon be an aspect of his game that is addressed and goes away. But, you don't wait for something to happen when you know there's a problem.
Click to expand...
.....and of course you've seen Casey and Pennington, and even Tharme play enough games to KNOW that they are strong and better defenders than Marv. I think not because you'll barely have seen any of them play enough games to form a proper judgement. Season before last Marv scooped the player of the year awards. That's because he's a quality defender.
 
Marv gave the ball away near the half way line I wouldn't call that a defensive error as we where on the attack, if it would have been one of our midfield it wouldn't be called a midfield error just the player at fault same here for ME.

That's his Achilles heel but defensively he's colossus and first name on team sheet for me.
 
If I were am opposition team, I'd make sure Husband/Casey/Pennington couldn't receive the ball and make Marv the only option, then press him and wait for the inevitable mistake. He just needs to keep things simple and his team mates need to make sure he always has a simple pass on. Marv just needs a few games to avoid a blooper and get his confidence fully back. Don't underestimate the impact of last seasons debacle.
 
NewburyOne said:
If I were am opposition team, I'd make sure Husband/Casey/Pennington couldn't receive the ball and make Marv the only option, then press him and wait for the inevitable mistake. He just needs to keep things simple and his team mates need to make sure he always has a simple pass on. Marv just needs a few games to avoid a blooper and get his confidence fully back. Don't underestimate the impact of last seasons debacle.
Click to expand...
you're right of course but by the same token we as a team and manager should be aware of that's what the opposition are trying to do and so we should be working on alternatives to resolve these problems.
 
If we drop Marv and put Casey in that central position then, good as he is on the ball, he WILL get pushed over by someone cos he's nowhere near as strong as Marv and got caught under the ball twice on Saturday - Marv bailing him out on one of those occasions.

Had that moment ended different - i.e. Marv not covered, people would be saying 'Casey should have dealt with it' - he did have a really good game but he too had a couple of moments - another where he didn't beat his man for a bouncing ball and it got subsequently flagged offside. Marv had that horrible moment and otherwise played really well. His error was glaring. Casey's moments were more subtle - but they spoke of why Critch will prefer Marv to play that central foundation - because it's that position which will come under most aerial pressure and Casey isn't at Marv levels there.

It feels weird - we've not conceded a goal yet and both Hubby and Marv are being binned off by the support. Hubby I thought was really good on Saturday - but one sliced clearance appeared to negate all of the good work for some.

Footballers fuck up. All of them. It's about how they react to that defines them and Marv had a good game after that mistake.
 
Last edited:
NewburyOne said:
If I were am opposition team, I'd make sure Husband/Casey/Pennington couldn't receive the ball and make Marv the only option, then press him and wait for the inevitable mistake. He just needs to keep things simple and his team mates need to make sure he always has a simple pass on. Marv just needs a few games to avoid a blooper and get his confidence fully back. Don't underestimate the impact of last seasons debacle.
Click to expand...
That did seem like Exeter's plan, waiting for Marv to get the ball then press. Hopefully a lot of work with him over his decision making but in the interim colleagues need to always give him an easy get out ball.
 
Willie Mcgrotty said:
That did seem like Exeter's plan, waiting for Marv to get the ball then press. Hopefully a lot of work with him over his decision making but in the interim colleagues need to always give him an easy get out ball.
Click to expand...
He had one. Norburn was square of him when he picked it up - he ran forward and then there was no one cos norburn was then deeper and cut off. He just needs telling he's not baresi, and that Ekpiteta not ** around is the best defender in the league.

He'll be reet.
 
It's also two games in. If we are serious about becoming a better team and evolving, we need to allow players to adapt to the new gameplan and to improve.

If anyone thinks Marv can't improve his ball playing from where he is to the standard required, then I do you think Lavery has the same incapability to improve? If there's no improvement in 5 or 6 games time, then we can reassess. 2 games, with 2 clean sheets is not the time to write off our best defender as a lost cause.
 
20togo said:
.....and of course you've seen Casey and Pennington, and even Tharme play enough games to KNOW that they are strong and better defenders than Marv. I think not because you'll barely have seen any of them play enough games to form a proper judgement. Season before last Marv scooped the player of the year awards. That's because he's a quality defender.
Click to expand...
The key passage in the above post being; 'Season before last Marv scooped the player of the year awards.' Yes, he did. But, just in case the point was lost on you, that was TWO YEARS AGO. Time enough for key developments (both negative, and positive) to occur - surely? Or does the passage of time not feature on your agenda? Clearly not ...
 
tarantula said:
The key passage in the above post being; 'Season before last Marv scooped the player of the year awards.' Yes, he did. But, just in case the point was lost on you, that was TWO YEARS AGO. Time enough for key developments (both negative, and positive) to occur - surely? Or does the passage of time not feature on your agenda? Clearly not ...
Click to expand...
"passage of time"? Wow, that's a bit rich coming from you when you talk about his "long suffering team mates". So please don't lecture me on agendas when you are coming out with terms [crap] like that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top