The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
