The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a thread holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed 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 over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
