Cancellieri Displays Flashing Moments of Brilliance in Bright Spot for Haywire Lazio
The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
