The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
