The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
