The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
