The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
