The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he to later acknowledge that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
