The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back 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. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" 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 initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
One individual remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
