The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
