The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
