The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
