The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Return
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
