The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Return
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the nature of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season 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, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
