The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
