The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the nature of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
