The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
