The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
