The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever a binding element 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 management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
