The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their last 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 unraveling, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
