The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element holding it together in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he admitted that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were attempting to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in 2022-23, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
