The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
