🔗 Share this article

The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.

The Campaign Falling Apart?

Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.

The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.

Matteo's Unexpected Return

One individual remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, Lazio were attempting to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.

He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."

Discovering His True Position

Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn