The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
