The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
