The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last 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 the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him admitted that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
