The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
