The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a binding element holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup 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
