The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
