The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
