The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread 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 club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
One individual remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
