The feeling at Lazio's home ground was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
