The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him admitted that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
