The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
