The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
