The mood at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
