The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
One individual remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were attempting to stay there for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
