The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist a thread holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he admitted that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
