The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Unexpected Comeback
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, 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 coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
