The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
