The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors 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 "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
