The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the nature of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
