The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Presence
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 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 at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
