The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn