The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a thread holding it together from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he admitted that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
