The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
