The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last 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 coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed initially 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 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
