The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
