The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of his skill set. Originally described as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
