The mood at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
