The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
One individual remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were attempting to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
