The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the nature of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
