The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
