The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
