The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he admitted that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
