The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he admitted that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
