The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn