The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
