The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist any cohesion holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Surprising Presence
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He joined originally during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
