The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
