The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say 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 being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
