The mood at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him admitted that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
