The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
