The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term 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
