The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
