The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to stay there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
