The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Return
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
