The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 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, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
