The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unexpected Presence
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
