The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy in their performances as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
One individual remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
