The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
