The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. 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 last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unexpected Comeback
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
