The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
