The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
