The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in 2022-23, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
