The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup 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
