The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
