The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, 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 determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, 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, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
