The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee 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 weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
