The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a binding element holding it together 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 management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or imploding.
Matteo's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
