The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 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.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a binding element holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he admitted that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were attempting to stay there for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
