The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
