The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him admitted that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
