The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
