The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, but then he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable 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 graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
