The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to determine the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
