The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
A single player remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
