The mood at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten 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 chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were attempting to stay there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
