The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Presence
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
