The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he admitted that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
