The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
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 at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
