The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he admitted that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
