The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed 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 continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they are improving or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the nature of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
