The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in 2022-23, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for 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 over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
