The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
One individual remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
