The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
