The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he admitted that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate 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, who left after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
