The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
One individual kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
