The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
