The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
