The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a thread holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
