The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Presence
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
