The mood at their home stadium 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 managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
