The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
One individual remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
