The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
