The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
