The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he admitted that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
