I generally tend not to criticize newbies....but are you deranged? He is and has been one of the tallest players in the squad.
To all his detractors: Tell me all the successful CB partnerships there have been in the last few years? Wait, I'll do it for you:
Puyol &
Marquez (Our main CB pairing through the years)
Militio &
Marquez (The famed MnM in the begining of last year)
Pique &
Marquez (Pique had his best initial games alongside him and not Puyol)
Anyone sense a trend here? He has been superb for us for many seasons, has always been our main CB who can play the ball out of defense, is perhaps one of the best CBs at reading the game and is versatile enough to play as a DM when needed. It might just turn out that we'll need him this year due to the ACN. He deserves to retire at Barca or atleast stay here unless he wishes to retire in Mexico. And you can bet he'll always have something to offer us while he's here.
We should have 5 CBs next year: Pique, Puyol, Hernanes, Marquez and Militio.