The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist a binding element holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
