The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing 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 concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
