The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, but then he publicly stated that the board had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
