The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
