The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
One individual remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
