The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
