The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
