The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
