The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist a binding element holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he could resign were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
