The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
