The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
