The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a thread holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he admitted that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
