The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were attempting to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
