The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the nature of his skill set. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
