The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he admitted that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
