The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in 2022-23, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
