The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
