The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
