The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti 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, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
