The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
