The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn