The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
