The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
