The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
