The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he admitted that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
