The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
