The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Presence
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
