The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
