The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
