The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him admitted that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming 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's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
