The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been a binding element holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
