The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a thread holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
