The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
