The mood at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
A single player remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
