The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Return
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign 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
