The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he admitted that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the nature of his skill set. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
