The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unexpected Comeback
A single player remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
