The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he admitted that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
