The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him admitted that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
