The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Comeback
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
