The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the exact type of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
