The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
