The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he admitted that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Presence
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
