The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a binding element holding it together in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to stay there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the nature of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
