The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their most recent 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 Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
