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The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.

This Year's Efforts Unraveling?

Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.

Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, beating 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, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or self-destructing.

The Youngster's Surprising Comeback

At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.

He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."

Discovering His True Position

Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season 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 netted seven goals. Shoehorn