The feeling at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him admitted that the club had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
