The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all 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 "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
