The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the nature of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
