The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a binding element holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors 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, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
