The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he admitted that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn