The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
