Matteo Cancellieri Demonstrates Glimpses of Genius in Bright Spot for Struggling Lazio
The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him admitted that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
One individual 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 advocating for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
