The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
