The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent 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.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to remain there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
