The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were attempting to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the nature of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
