The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
