The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
