The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he admitted that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, beating 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, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances 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, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
