The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a binding element holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unexpected Presence
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the nature of his skill set. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
