The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to stay there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
