The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
