The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
One individual remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
