The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the nature of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
