The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were attempting to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
