The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the nature of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
