The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to remain there for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
