The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches 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 they are improving or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Presence
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one 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 "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
