The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he admitted that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn