The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or had there never been a binding element holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
