The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He completed the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
