The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a binding element holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, almost all of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
