The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he admitted that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to stay there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
