The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
