The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element holding it together from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he admitted that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
