The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
