The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a thread holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
