The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him admitted that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti 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 first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
