The mood at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
