The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Unexpected Comeback
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy 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
