The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
