Matteo Cancellieri Shows Brief Sparks of Brilliance in Positive Aspect for Haywire Lazio
The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Return
A single player remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
