The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were attempting to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
