The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
