The mood at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
