The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
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 on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
