The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a thread holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
