The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, 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's been difficult to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
