The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he admitted that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Presence
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
