The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances 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, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
