The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Return
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
