The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual kept smiling 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, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
