The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he admitted that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing 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 with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
