The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were attempting to remain there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
