The mood at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
