Cancellieri Shows Flashing Moments of Brilliance in Silver Lining for Unstable Lazio
The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
