The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
