The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
