The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
A single player remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
