The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the exact type 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. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
