The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, but then he admitted that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially 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, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
