The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a binding element holding it together from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
