The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
