The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team 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 wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he admitted that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his parent club were attempting to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
