The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
