The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element holding it together from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
