The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
One individual remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were attempting to stay there for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
