The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he admitted that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
One individual remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
