The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
