The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were attempting to stay there for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances 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, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
