The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he publicly stated that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
