The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
