The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the nature of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
