The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
