The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were attempting to stay there for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the nature of his skill set. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
