The mood at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
