The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a thread holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
