The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club 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 "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
