The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he admitted that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Return
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
