The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in 2022-23, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
