Matteo Cancellieri Shows Glimpses of Exceptional Talent in Positive Aspect for Unstable Lazio
The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
