The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a thread holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he admitted that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to stay there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
