The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Return
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
