The feeling at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he admitted that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
A single player remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
