The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he stated 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 the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
