The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he admitted that the board had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
