The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
