The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
