Aston Villa signed striker Mbwana Samatta last month from Belgian side KRC Genk.
The Tanzania international striker made a promising start to his Villa career, netting on his Premier League debut to become the first Tanzanian to ever play and score in the English top-flight.
However, one statistic has emerged that we feel should definitely be a cause for concern for manager Dean Smith.
The forward only had 20 touches of the ball in 90 minutes against Southampton last Saturday (WhoScored).
But, what does this mean and why should Smith worry?
Well, the stat proves that the attacker was incredibly isolated up front and was not getting the ball enough times to help make a difference to the team.
His effort, work rate and desire are all there for all to see, but if he isn’t getting the ball enough, there’s no way he will be able to score goals.
The striker only made ten passes in the whole match against the Saints, just three more than Anwar El Ghazi, who was substituted after 27 minutes (WhoScored).
This goes some way to showing that Smith needs to find a way to get Samatta more involved in Villa’s play.
Whether that be by providing him with a strike partner or by moving Jack Grealish behind him, something needs to be done quickly or else the January signing will not be able to have the desired impact on Villa’s season
