The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
