The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign 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. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
