Matteo Cancellieri Shows Flashing Moments of Brilliance in Silver Lining for Haywire Lazio
The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread holding it together from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
