The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the nature of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
