The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Presence
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
