The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the management had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this season. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the exact type of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
