The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him publicly stated that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
