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The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.

The Campaign Unraveling?

Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.

The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.

Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence

At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.

He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."

Finding His Natural Fit

It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn