The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this season. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
