The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he admitted that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
