The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
