The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Return
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
