The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
