The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he admitted that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
