The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
