Cancellieri Shows Glimpses of Brilliance in Positive Aspect for Haywire Lazio
The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were attempting to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
