The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to remain there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
