The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
