The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
