The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist a thread holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
