Cancellieri Demonstrates Flashing Moments of Brilliance in Silver Lining for Struggling Lazio
The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
