The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was decidedly gloomy on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, before he admitted that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Comeback
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He spent last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
