The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Presence
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying 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 a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
