Matteo Cancellieri Shows Brief Sparks of Brilliance in Positive Aspect for Haywire Lazio
The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club 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, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
