The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Return
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
