The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
