The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
