The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were attempting to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
