The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
