The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
