Cancellieri Displays Brief Sparks of Brilliance in Silver Lining for Haywire Lazio
The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
