The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
