The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only 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.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
