The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him admitted that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn