The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a thread holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
