The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a binding element holding it together in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
