Matteo Cancellieri Demonstrates Flashing Moments of Brilliance in Positive Aspect for Unstable Lazio
The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he admitted that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his parent club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
