The mood at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
