The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
