The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans 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 falling apart, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
