The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
