The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the board had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
