The mood at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the nature of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
