The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Return
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
