The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy 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 previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual kept smiling through it. 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 remain there temporarily. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
