The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were attempting to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
