The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he admitted that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined initially when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Finding His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the exact type of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
