The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
