The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
