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The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.

A Season Coming Unstitched?

Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.

Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.

The Youngster's Unforeseen Return

At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.

Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."

Discovering His Best Role

Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn