The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten 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 club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
