The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a binding element holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
