The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, overcoming 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's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the nature of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
