The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
