The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He completed the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn