The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
