Cancellieri Shows Glimpses of Exceptional Talent in Silver Lining for Struggling Lazio

The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.

The Campaign Falling Apart?

Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.

The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or collapsing.

Matteo's Surprising Return

A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.

He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."

Discovering His Best Role

Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn