Aston Villa journalist Gregg Evans has been sharing his thoughts on Villa striker Mbwana Samatta.
This comes after Evans recently made an appearance on The Athletic’s Villa-themed podcast 1874, to reflect on Villa’s 1-0 win over Arsenal in midweek.
On the topic of Samatta and his fellow striker Keinan Davis, Evans shared his thoughts on the pair as well as sharing some insight into what Samatta did on the pitch during the match against the north London club.
He said: “It’s still not quite working for [Mbwana] Samatta and [Keinan] Davis up-front. The goals aren’t coming for either of them. It’s been a major problem and a talking point throughout the season, but they ran their socks off, they really put a shift in for the cause.
“I remember something early in the first half, it was actually Ally Samatta, who has been a captain previously for Tanzania and Genk, but comes across as quite a quiet character at Villa because of some of the other bigger players around him. He certainly surprised me when he was letting rip at his midfield teammates for not marking up at a throw-in and that was just a real clear sign for me that every single player on that pitch is pulling together.”
Samatta signed for the club back in the previous January transfer window from KRC Genk for a fee of £9.45 million after fellow Villa striker Wesley sustained a serious injury earlier in January.
Since then, Samatta has gone on to make 15 appearances for Villa but has only managed to score two goals in his time at the club.
Who would you start up front against West Ham?
Mbwana Samatta
Keinan Davis
Both
TIF Thoughts…
Despite him not having the best goalscoring form since he joined Villa, it’s great to hear Evans revealing that Samatta is being vocal on the pitch and communicating with his teammates during matches.
This shows that he has the determination to do well on the pitch and help Villa get some positive results.
Everyone at Villa will now be hoping that Samatta can put in a good performance in their final league match of the season against West Ham United on Sunday and grab himself a goal to end his season on a positive note and help Villa avoid relegation.