The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a thread holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
