The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their most recent 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 Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, but then he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
