The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A 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 at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
