The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
