The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were attempting to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the nature of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative 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
