The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
