The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a thread holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
