The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
