The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just 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.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk 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 accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
